Future Promises all chapters
by Goldenbane
Summary: When a nerdy computer geek moves to Forks, his life becomes intwined with that of the Cullen family and Bella's granddaughter, Alicia. However, there is more to this man than any of them can know.


**Future Promises**

By: Richard Klosterman

_Why are we here?_

_Because we're here, roll the bones, roll the bones_

_Why does it happen?_

_Because it happens, roll the bones, roll the bones._

Roll the Bones

Rush; 1991

**Chapter One: A New Job, A New Town, A New Beginning**

It had been a long flight from Ohio to Washington, and now I had a long three and a half hour drive from Seattle, where I came in, to some town called Forks. I still couldn't believe I was doing this, leaving my entire life behind me in Ohio, and starting over again so far away. My mom and dad were gone now, and my brothers were all distant. I hadn't seen any of them since last Christmas. It was hard to believe that it was August already, nearly a year. Things weren't great in Ohio at the moment. Jobs were getting harder and harder to find, and I'd been laid off from where I worked as a computer graphics designer for a local advertising company. However, if this little business in Washington proved to be what I hoped for, maybe I could get back on my feet again and start over.

Already rain began to beat down harder and harder on my little rental car as I navigated the slick and treacherous roads. I drove for a good while, but the rain seemed to refuse to let up even for an instant. Kyle Morris, the man that I contacted about the job in Forks, had warned me that this part of the country was the rainiest place in the U.S. I have to admit that I didn't entirely think about what he was telling me, and now I really wish I had considered it more.

Forks was a tiny little place, just like my hometown of Coldwater. I had to admit that I really liked that, as I was not a particularly big fan of larger cities. I made my way through town, until I came to a rather new looking office building, with a giant sign reading "Wulgar Industries" over the main entrance. _Maybe they want me to redesign their sign?_ I thought to myself, seeing how unremarkable it was. Just big square Egyptian-style letters, colored blue, on a plain white backing. Obviously, the sign lit up at night.

A petite older woman was standing at the door, umbrella in hand. When she saw my car pull up, she smiled and waved. Despite the rain, I was definitely glad to have a chance to finally get out and stretch my legs. I climbed out of the car, grunting a little bit. I wasn't a small person by any means, almost 325 pounds of fat. The car was not comfortable at all to climb in and out of. Despite my troubles, I smiled at the woman, and offered my hand, which she took and shook vigorously. "Hello, I take it you are Mr. Orious?" She asked me.

"Yes ma'am, I'm Owen Orious. I have an appointment with Mr. King today. 2:30…but it might have been 3. I hope I'm not too early!" I said to her, my heart pounding away nervously in my chest.

"No sir, not at all, you're running just fine. Mr. King has been extremely interested in finally meeting you! He's been asking about you for the past 2 weeks." She said.

"Really?" I frowned. That was extremely puzzling. I didn't know this Mr. King, never even talked to him. I wasn't some huge renowned designer from California or anything, I was extremely small time.

As I wondered to myself in silence, the woman shrugged and gestured for me to follow her. Obviously she didn't want to keep standing out here in the rain while I pondered the mysteries of my new employer. We walked into the office building and I waited silently as the woman closed up her umbrella and lead me down a short hallway to a receptionist's desk. The inside of this place was extremely…red. The walls were covered with wood paneling; I suppose to try to make the place more appealing. The rug was a sickly bright red color with ugly yellow specks. The small paintings on the wall were all created with variants of red and a little brown. The place was definitely new; I could still smell the pungent aroma of paint from the ceilings, and above the wood paneling where the pictures hung. I noticed there weren't any windows anywhere to be found, even when I peeked into the open doors leading to various cubicles…all of which were carpeted with a darker red.

"Mr. Orious, this is Angie Hanover. She's Mr. King's personal assistant, and she'll be helping you with anything you might need." The woman said to me, pointing to the young receptionist sitting behind a vast desk, work papers and electronic gizmos piled up all around her.

"Thank you, Ms…" I started to say, but the woman had already turned and left. I looked back at the secretary who only smiled and shrugged.

"Sorry about that, she's a manager looking to get higher status in the company. She doesn't like to be away from her work for very long." She told me. Pressing a button on her speaker phone she spoke again. "Mr. King? Mr. Orious has arrived; do you want me to send him in?" She released the button, and the two of us stared at it, uncomfortably for several moments. There was no answer. Angie grinned sheepishly up at me. "I know he's in there, I saw him only a little bit ago and I would have known if he left…" she mumbled apologetically to me, before pressing the speaker button again. "Mr. King…" but a deep voice interrupted her.

"I heard you the first time, Miss. Hanover. Send Orious in." the voice said in a very unfriendly manner.

"Sounds like a real sweetheart." I said frowning, and pulling at my lower lip…a habit I picked up whenever I was worried or in deep thought, and never got over.

"He…he isn't the nicest man, I admit." Angie shivered. "You can go on in, Mr. Ori…" but this time it was I who cut her off.

"You can just call me Owen. Mr. Orious was my dad." I said grinning. She smiled and went back to working on whatever it was she had. "Um…I don't suppose you'd be interested in maybe…grabbing a bite to eat later??" I asked her, blushing sheepishly after checking to see if she had any rings on her fingers or anything.

She looked back up at me and cocked an eyebrow, examining my obese overweight body in a matter of seconds. "I don't date anybody I work with. Sorry." She said, trying to give me a nice pity smile before returning to work. I hovered over her for a few seconds more, before she spoke again. "Mr. King really isn't a patient man, you shouldn't keep him waiting." She told me. Sighing quietly enough so she wouldn't hear, I thanked her and entered Mr. King's office.

It was as if I'd walked into the Twilight Zone or something. King's office was completely different from all the rest of the building. Instead of being covered in the sickening red, his office was all black and white. The file cabinets were all black; his desk was a deep brown…resembling black. The walls were white and cheerless, and there were no pictures or paintings anywhere to be found. King's desk was the exact opposite of his receptionists, completely clean except for a sophisticated computer on the right side, and a very old typewriter on the left side. It looked like it was made in the early 1900's or so. All in all, the office was completely devoid of any happiness at all.

King himself seemed perfectly suited to this sort of work place. He wore a very expensive suit, and had his pure black hair slicked back away from his face. His skin was an unsightly pale…almost grey color, while his eyes were black and empty, as though he'd never known joy. He seemed like he would have been perfectly dressed for a funeral, and save for the aura of cruelty that surrounded him, he might have been a mourner at one. Behind him was another man…standing about 6'8, and built like a rock. The giant was completely bald, not even having any eyebrows; his left ear was extremely deformed, like it had been ripped off or something. He wore simple black jeans and a white tank top. His skin was bronze colored and the whole time I was there, his brown eyes glared a hole through me as if he wanted nothing more than to murder me. Suffice to say I was a little scared of this guy. Ok, I was petrified of him! He seemed totally out of place within this building.

"Sit down, Mr. Orious!" King growled, his eyebrows narrowing, and his hands clutching the sides of his desk as if to stop himself from jumping over and slapping the shit out of me. Startled by his sudden outburst, I immediately sat down in one of the two chairs he had in front of his desk.

King glared at me for several more moments, before finally lowering his eyes and looking at some papers he had laying in front of him. I managed to sneak a look at what he had…just my resume and cover letter. "You have a very nice background, Mr. Orious. I see you have lots of experience…quite impressive, considering you finally finished college at the age of 29, and are now 38 years old." He commented.

"Yes sir, I was late going to college…really late. I didn't think I needed an education until I realized how hard it was to get a decent job. I went back…got my associates…worked for a few years, and…here I am." I told him.

"Yes…may I ask you a question, Mr. Orious?"

"Of course."

"What is your father's name?"

"My father?"

"Yes."

"Brian."

King nodded but his piercing gaze continued to glare through me. "And what was your grandfather's name…your father's father, I mean?"

"Thomas." I said, frowning. What did this have to do with anything at all?

"Ah, excellent!" Mr. King exclaimed, managing a very sly looking smile. "Tell me then, where is your family from? Orious is such a strange and interesting name. It almost sounds Greek perhaps."

"No…my dad's family came from Germany, and my mom's family came from England, Scotland, and parts of Ireland."

King frowned and risked a glance at the huge bald headed man. The man continued to glare at me, until he met King's eyes. He then nodded once, and King cocked an eyebrow, as though the two were having a totally separate conversation from what was supposed to be my job interview. However, King immediately turned his full attention to me, and this time he was all smiles and looking reassuring. "Well, I must say, Mr. Orious, looking at your papers and your credentials, I am very impressed. Forgive me for all the questions about your private background, but I only hire people from the highest quality stock. I think our business is concluded now, please return tomorrow at 9:00 in the morning, and we can get you to work." King nodded to me, then turned and walked back to his desk, never bothering to shake hands or anything like that.

"Um…Mr. King…what about papers, y'know, tax forms and all that stuff?" I asked him.

"Miss Hanover will handle that when you leave here. Good day, Mr. Orious." He replied.

"Oh, uh, ok! Hey, thank you very much, Mr. King! I appreciate you giving me a chance and all that stuff. See you tomorrow?" I offered my hand to him, smiling. He looked at it but did not shake it. He merely nodded again.

"Good day, Mr. Orious." He repeated and continued to watch me…waiting for me to leave. Feeling uncomfortable as I did, I wasn't about to make him wait long. I chanced one more glance at the pissed off bald guy then rushed out of the office.

I met Angie Hanover at her desk, and breathed in deeply. King's voice came over the speaker phone as I moved away from his office door. "Miss Hanover, please make sure Mr. Orious gets all the proper forms to fill out, and welcome him as the newest member of our team. Thank you."

Angie smiled at me and pulled out a big bulky folder stuffed will all the usual boring W2 forms and crap. I sat down at a little table next to a fish tank filled with all sorts of exotic red colored fish and began to fill the papers out. I breathed in again and looked uneasily at Angie. "Um, Miss Hanover, can I ask you something?" I said meekly.

"As long as you aren't asking me out again." She replied jokingly.

"No, no…I just was wondering…who is the great big guy that's in Mr. King's office? The guy looked like he wanted to kick my a…err…butt. I really wish Mr. King hadn't let him sit in on our interview. He was freaking me out."

"Oh…that's Hector. He's supposedly Mr. King's bodyguard, and you aren't the first one to be terrified of him. He's always hovering over Mr. King…I remember how I felt when I had my first interview! After a while though, you just kinda learn to ignore him. He's the quiet type and he never leaves King's side…so he never bothers anybody." She reassured me. Somehow I wasn't quite convinced.

"Is there anyplace to unwind around here? After this, I think I just want to get out and grab a bite to eat." I said, taking off my thick glasses and rubbing my eyes wearily.

"Well, I don't know around here, but there's a nice shopping center in Port Angeles. You should check it out! There are some great places there, and it's not too far a drive. Let me print you out some directions."

I thought about it as Angie was already looking directions up on Mapquest. What the hell, another little drive would do me good, and getting out and seeing the how the locals lived could be fun. I thanked her when she printed the directions out and handed them to me, I then gave her my completed tax forms and headed back to my car…immediately drenched by the relentless rainfall.

It was only a little over an hour's drive to Port Angeles from Forks, but thanks to the rain, I made it there in about an hour and a half. The city was a decent size, and I cruised the streets looking at the places they had to eat and the shopping areas. I kept going and going, until I actually found myself leaving the city. There just seemed to be nothing that really caught my interest. The restaurants looked so busy and expensive. I kind of lost the desire to actually eat out, and figured that I might as well go someplace and grab a TV dinner or something.

As I continued my drive, I saw a Wal*Mart. _At least some things are universal no matter where you go…_ I thought to myself with a smile. Just wanting to escape the car and rain, I pulled into the parking lot, turned off the car, and hurried into the store.

The place was very busy, as many people were off from work that evening and shopping needed to be done. I walked slowly towards my destination, but turned for a detour, casually looking at all the "back to school" sales and "fall specials" they had that day. I couldn't have cared less however. Deep inside, I'd always been a big kid. My passion was collecting, anything from action figures of super heroes, to the new LEGO Star Wars sets, to the latest rock and roll guitar game.

I strolled through the action figure isle, and to my great surprise, they had a ton of new ones that I'd never seen before! The comic book "The Mighty Thor" had always been my favorite title, and I tried to collect as many issues of it as I could…and Wal*Mart had an entire section filled with Thor figures! Thor himself was there, of course, looking bad to the bone, as was his evil brother and arch enemy Loki. The Warriors Three, Sif, Balder the Brave, and even the Absorbing Man were all present! It was going to cost me a ton of money, but I had to buy these guys! Immediately I started piling the figures into my arms, looking on the backs of the boxes to see if there were any more available. Thunderstrike and Hela were also in the collection, and as I grabbed figure after figure I found both of them! The last ones they had! Jackpot!

My arms overflowing with figures, I decided I'd had enough and that I needed to head over to the electronics department. I could pay for the heroes, have them bagged, and maybe look through the games afterwards! Thor threatened to slip through my fingers…if I dropped him, I'd lose it, and I knew I'd drop all the figures so I hurried out of the isle, and went to make a sharp turn towards electronics.

Thor was going to fall, I couldn't hold onto him, I picked up my pace, and I ran into something…something BIG. I lost my balance, and tumbled over onto the ground, figures spilling everywhere. There were gasps all around me, as my body collided with the floor. My fellow fat guy, the action figure of Volstagg the Vainglorious, one of the Warriors Three, was the only figure I'd been able to hold onto, as I groaned painfully. When I got my bearings after a few seconds, I looked around to see what I'd ran into, and when I did, I immediately became very afraid. It was an Indian…excuse me…Native American…and the guy was HUGE! He could have easily matched Hector back at Wulgar's. He had to have been nearly seven feet in height, and probably a few inches taller than that even. His hair was long and pitch black, while his muscles were huge and well defined. Off on his left was a very hot looking copper haired girl of about 17 or so and on his right was a drop dead gorgeous woman of about 25. She looked like maybe she was only half Indian…excuse me…Native American, because her skin was similar in color to his, but much paler. She shared many of the giant guy's features, and was certainly not lacking in the height department either. She must have easily stood at 6'6! I figured they must have been brother and sister or something. All three of them were staring down at me, shock etched on their faces.

Slowly but surely the big guy reached down for me. _Please don't let him crush my head like a grape!_ I prayed silently, just before his huge hands took me gently by the arms and lifted me to my feet. After a few more of the cobwebs cleared from my head I finally managed to say something. "Oh man…I'm sorry about that! I was carrying too much, and didn't see where I was going! I hope you're alright! Sorry!!" I stammered

"Hey, it's alright! You had a bunch of stuff…looked like you were losing your grip on it. Just be more careful next time!" The giant said, smiling and infectious grin, while helping me pick up my stuff. The young copper haired girl frowned and scowled at him, obviously annoyed. As we were picking up my figures, she silently placed her hand upon his forehead. His eyes were looking at me…but it seemed like he wasn't seeing me. He suddenly blushed and smiled again. "Heh, well, I have to admit, it probably wasn't your entire fault. I was talking to my girlfriend and not paying attention. Uh…actually, I think I ran into you by accident." He said sheepishly.

He grinned back and shrugged; my arms once again full of figures. "It doesn't really matter. Thank you so much for helping me pick this stuff up! Sorry again!" I told him, but he didn't let me walk off.

"Hey, hold up a moment. Let me at least grab you a cart!" He told me, running off before I could even say anything. The next few minutes were very awkward…it was just me and the two super models. Both girls were quiet the entire time, the copper haired just stood there, smiling politely at me with her hands behind her back, while she waited for the guy to come back. Her eyes were a rich honey brown color, and her skin was soft and pale looking. The super tall girl just gaped at me. She was lighter in color than her brother, and also seemed to be very athletic and shapely. Both women were breathtaking, and wearing the absolute latest fashion styles…expensive looking clothes. The big guy, in contrast however, was just wearing simple stuff, jeans and a t-shirt, nothing really fancy like these gals. It was like I was a total freak or something, as the tall girl just kept standing there, staring, with her jaw dropped open. I looked over at her, and she realized she was looking too long. She immediately closed her mouth, and smiled the same infectious grin as her brother. She then looked away from me, blushing deeply, then looked back to see if I was still watching her. Of course, I blushed even deeper and quickly looked away. She was so pretty…I really didn't want her brother catching me checking out his sister, and kicking the crap out of me. Strangely, the copper haired kept glaring at her, as though disapproving.

It wasn't too long before the big guy returned, pushing a cart, and he was all smiles as he parked it right next to me. I was more than happy to dump all the figures into the cart, as my arms were starting to get tired from holding them all! "Whew, thanks…"

"Jacob! Jacob Black!" The big guy exclaimed in his friendly voice. He extended a hand, which I promptly shook.

"Nice to meet you, Jacob, I'm Owen Orious."

"Nice to meet you too, Owen!" Jacob said. "This is my girlfriend, Renesmee, and my…uh…er…cousin…Alicia." He continued, introducing me to the blond…Renesmee, and the tall girl, Alicia. Nice names, I guess, I couldn't say I was thrilled to hear that Alicia was Jacob's cousin and not his sister. Still family, still would probably be over protective.

"Nice to meet you all! You'll have to excuse me for being kind of shy and stuff. I'm new in town. I just moved here from Ohio." I explained.

"Ohio? That's a long trip." Renesmee commented.

"Yeah, I got a new job here…I work in computer graphics and design. I was ready to head to my new apartment and unpack my stuff, but I thought I'd go eat first."

"So…you came to Wal*Mart?"

"Well…I didn't mean to…I just didn't see anyplace that really caught my eye, and I just sort of absently drove here. I'll probably just grab a frozen dinner or something."

The three of them chuckled, and then Jacob slapped me on the shoulder. "Well, nice meeting you Owen. Good luck with the new job and stuff! C'mon girls, let's get out of here!"

"Are…um…are those super heroes for your son?" Alicia asked me, blushing deeper red than ever before. It was the first thing she'd said the entire time.

Now it was my turn to feel utterly embarrassed. A 38 year old man buying toys…for himself…not a great way to make a first impression. "Oh…uh…ha ha…well…no, I've never been married or had any kids or anything. Err, I'm sort of an avid collector of super hero stuff, and these are some of my favorite heroes and villains." I told her shyly.

"Who are these guys?" Alicia asked, staring blankly at the powerful looking figure of Thor, even though his name was clearly on the box.

"Well, that particular guy is Thor…god of thunder! He's awesome!" I exclaimed, probably with far more enthusiasm that I should have.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Cool. Alright Owen, maybe we'll see you later!" He took Alicia by the hand and started to walk away, but she wouldn't budge! To everyone's surprise, she actually yanked him back when he tried to pull her away.

"What sorts of…um…super powers does Thor have?" She asked, her huge bright honey brown eyes gazing at me. They were almost exactly like Renesmee's…same color and shape and everything. It was extremely weird to have a girl acting this way with me. She seemed to hang on my every word, even though I was completely out of her league.

"Ha ha ha! Honey, we've got to get going…let's leave Owen alone, alright?" Renesmee told her…almost lecturing. Really weird to see a 16 or 17 year old almost disciplining a 25 year old. "It really was nice meeting you, Owen." Jacob and Renesmee then exchanged a quick and very troubled look, before grabbing Alicia by both her arms and pulling her along.

"Wait! Wait! I want to talk some more! Let me go!" She yelled, actually struggling against them. They held her fast, but…I dunno…it looked like she could have easily broken free if they hadn't really held her tightly. I couldn't believe Jacob was struggling. He was almost twice as wide as she was…damn that guy was big!

I smiled and waved, a little disappointed to see her go, but a little relieved as well. I shouldn't flirt like that…as horrible and as clumsy as it was. The tall girl was probably just making fun of me or something anyway. It wouldn't have been the first time I'd built my hopes up, only for some girl I was chasing to break my heart. "See you around, guys! I'd love to talk some more some time!" I called after them, before grabbing my cart and pushing it towards the electronics section.

**Chapter 2: Candid Camera?**

The electronics section was crazy! DVDs, video games, and accessories of every sort were everywhere. I checked out the movies real quick, but didn't see anything that really caught my eye…at least nothing that I could afford after I bought all these action figures anyway. I headed towards the video games…when I saw it! The newest Rock Band game was out! Holy crap, this was awesome! As was usual, Wal*mart had the game all set up for customers to try out. It had the drums, the microphone, and both guitars used for bass and lead. Some kids were standing around playing, and having a blast. I laughed when they failed out and started yelling at each other. The person singing didn't seem to get the idea that they had to keep their voice on the level of the song…it didn't matter what words they sang. One of the kids turned around and saw me laughing at them. "What? You think you can do better?" She asked me.

"Heh heh, oh yeah…let me show you amateurs how this is done!" I bragged, grabbing the mic. "Choose 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.' That's one of my favorites."

The kids all grabbed the instruments while the one that sang before sat out. The game began, and I started crooning away.

"_And I'm a cowboy! On a steel horse I ride! I'm wanted! Dead or alive! Wanted!!!! Dead or aliiiiiiiive!"_

The girl that had sung last covered her ears. "Oh God, you're horrible!"

"_Do you see the cursor? I keep it in the green line! And I don't fail out! Fail out! And lose the game! And lose the gaaaaame! AND LOSE THE GAME!"_ I sung again to the beat of "Dead or Alive" and showed her that my voice stayed on the little green line the entire time. Heh, no failure for me…no matter how horrible I sounded!

"You don't even have to sing the right words?? That's such crap!" The girl whined. The rest of us laughed, or should I say, cackled at her expense. She was a good sport about it, though, shrugged, and laughed along with us.

"Let's do another one, guys!" one of the boys exclaimed. However, the lead guitarist put his instrument away.

"Sorry guys, but we need to take off. See you at school!" He and the girl that couldn't sing then walked away.

"Hey, mister, you mind sticking around? We could do a three person band…" the other boy asked.

I smiled and opened my mouth to reply, when a dark shadow fell over us. We all looked and it was Alicia, towering over everyone. She grinned sheepishly, and took up the lead guitar. "Can I play?" She asked.

"I thought you were leaving?" I asked her.

"I was…but now I'm not…" She said, blushing deeply again, her eyes absorbing my every feature.

I blushed myself and grinned. "Do you all mind if she joins us?" I asked the kids. The boys were both drooling over the tall beauty, and shook their heads. "Alright, you're in! Let's do a random song guys. Guys? Random song. Guys…choose the random song option…" The boys were so busy staring they weren't listening, until I finally started snapping my fingers at them. That woke them up, and the bass player finally chose random song. We all selected the difficulty we wanted to play at…and were all more than a little amazed when Alicia chose "Expert," the absolute hardest difficulty to play for any instrument. "Oh, you've played this before?" I asked her.

"No, but I was watching for a little bit. I think I get the idea, and it looks really easy." She said without a care in the world. The other two kids played it safe and stuck to the easy difficulty while I went with medium…the singer had the easiest job after all. It didn't matter though. If Alicia had never ever played this game, we were going to fail out fast.

The game started…and our random song ended up being "Lump" by The Presidents of the United States of America. I wasn't the biggest fan of the song, so I decided to substitute Weird Al Yankovic's lyrics instead. "_Gump sat along on a bench in the park! My name is Forrest he casually remarked! Waiting for the bus with his hands in his pockets, he just kept saying life was like a box of chocolates! He's Gump; he's Gump, what's in his head?"_ I had the rest of the players rolling in the isles. The bass guitar player was laughing hard, but not missing any notes. The drummer missed a note here and there. But Alicia…holy shit! Her arms and fingers moved like lightning! She was laughing at my tomfoolery more than anyone else, but she didn't miss a beat at all! The colored notes seemed to come at her at a million miles an hour, but she hit every single last one of them! She even did some dancing a little...the speed of the game was nothing to her!

"I…I thought you said you never played this before!" The bass player gasped, actually missing five notes of his own, as he watched Alicia fire off her notes like she was shooting a machinegun instead of a guitar. It normally takes people weeks of practice before they can get that good!"

"I told you the truth! I've never played this before, but I was right…it is easy and fun too!" She said defensively.

At that point, I couldn't help myself. I started looking around for hidden cameras. This gal was unreal. She was interested in me…a fat, unattractive older man who collected little dolls of super heroes. She claimed to have never played an exceptionally hard game (well, to me at least) yet blew the thing away with her breakneck speed and expertise. She was hot, funny, and seemed very kind…all at the same time. Either this was a bit for that show Candid Camera, or I was a character in a bad fan fiction. Suddenly I noticed Renesmee appear beside Alicia.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" She yelled. "We are going home…leave this gentleman alone and LET'S GO."

Alicia turned to Renesmee, and even though she wasn't even looking at the screen, she still hit every note. "We…we're playing a song! It's almost over, and we can go, ok?" She said. I noticed there was more than a little fear in her voice. She easily stood more than a foot taller than Renesmee. What in the heck sort of relationship did they have that the smaller, younger girl could dominate her so easily?

"RIGHT NOW!" Renesmee growled, grabbing Alicia by the upper part of her arm and yanking her…but not moving her. Despite all this, Alicia STILL didn't miss anything!

The song ended just as Jacob was returning. His face was a mixture of anger and relief. "What the hell is going on here? What's wrong with you, Alicia?" The two boys, upon seeing Jacob's size, put away their instruments and ran for it! I also put away the microphone, but didn't run. I didn't want to see Alicia in trouble or anything.

"Hey, Jacob, I'm sorry man, but this is entirely fault. Um…we were playing this game…those kids and I…and we really wanted a fourth person as two people playing with us bailed. I happened to see Alicia, and talked her into it! Uh, she said she really didn't have time, but I wouldn't stop annoying her, so I finally convinced her to come over…and um…well, here we are." My heart was pounding even faster than it did when I went in for my interview. Jacob would knock me out with one punch…but at least I'd keep Alicia out of trouble…and that was really the point of it. Besides…if this was Candid Camera, maybe Jacob would say something funny and wacky and reveal the whole truth and point out where the cameras were hidden. Jacob crossed his arms and glared at me, but he didn't make a move at all. I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"If I thought for a second that that was true, you and I would be stepping outside, Mr. Orious. Lucky for you…and unlucky for her…I know that's a total lie. Still, I'm pretty impressed that you'd stick your neck out for her like that…considering she's a total stranger. Why don't you get out of here?" I winced at his thinly veiled threat, and turned to walk away. This was none of my business, and now I felt really dumb for trying to protect her.

"NO! Don't go, please!" Alicia cried out, and her hand snatched my by the wrist. I nearly fell backward when she pulled me. She was incredibly strong! Her hand felt so strange to me. At first it was ice cold, like the grave, and then very quickly warmed up to almost as hot as a heater. Then it would lower back down to a cold temperature and then back to hot. The best way to describe it is like having an icy/hot patch on. I turned and looked into her eyes. They were pleading, almost obsessed. Was this girl insane or something? I was starting to be more afraid of her, than her cousin.

"You let him go this instant, young lady!" Renesmee cried, prying her hand off of me. I backed away, accidentally bumping into my cart of action figures, and hurting myself. Jacob and Renesmee flanked Alicia, both glaring at her with intense anger.

"You don't understand…neither of you do…I…I…" She then took her cousin by the shoulders and whispered into his ear. I didn't catch what she said…something about printing…but I was already pushing my cart as fast as I could towards the check out lanes! The audience watching this episode of Candid Camera was certainly going to get a big laugh out of all this. Sadly, I didn't find the situation funny at all. Fortunately I found an empty self checkout lane and immediately started scanning super hero after super hero. Out of the corner of my eye I saw them coming…and I groaned, trying to shove my money into the machine. An old lady pulled up behind me, and I thought maybe they wouldn't see me…but as each of them scanned the lanes, it was Renesmee who spotted my location and promptly pointed me out to the other two. I could imagine what she was saying. "There he is, get the normal!" I threw the heroes into the cart, not even bothering to bag them or get my change, and I rushed towards the exit, narrowly missing several bystanders.

I made it outside, where the rain had finally let up, and had become a gentle misting. I tossed the figures into my rental, jumped into the driver's seat, and peeled out of there. Alicia was calling to me, as they ran towards the car. "Mr. Orious, Owen! Wait, please! Let us explain!" I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she and her weirdo family faded into the distance. Just as I was pulling out of the parking lot, I realized my stupidity. "FUCK!" I didn't pick up my supper for the night! That was fine…it didn't matter. I'd grab a couple of double cheeseburgers from McDonalds, a Coke, and some fries…everything would be just fine. I took out my wallet from my pocket. "SHIT!" Those stupid damn action figures had taken almost all the money I had on me, and I didn't grab my change, when I made my escape…change that would have been $15.00! Cussing like a sailor, I drove straight to my little apartment…I didn't want to max out my credit cards anymore than they already were.

I'd sent all my stuff to Forks ahead of time, and hired some movers to bring all of it to my apartment. Growling about my rotten day, I just collapsed on the couch, not bothering to put my bed together or anything like that. I'd unpack tomorrow after work, after this day my luck could only improve.

The woman I'd first met when I went in for my interview was Samantha Grey. She was in charge of my department, and as such, she kept an extra close eye on her newest underling. I was working on an inspirational poster, the theme being "Persevere and you will succeed!" Not exactly a great topic for me to tackle after all I'd been through so far. I have to admit, I was the talk of the office, however. Several times while I worked away, Hector the body guard had come out of King's office to glare at me, his fists clenching and unclenching. One guy, Roger, made it a point to make fun of me at break. "So that's how you got your job, eh Orious? You and Hector an item or something?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, he wants to nail me alright…probably to a cross or something. What's that guy's problem? Why does he always look so damn pissed off, and what have I got to do with it?"

The others shrugged. "I ain't got a clue, good buddy, but if I were you, I'd stay as far away from that guy as I possibly could! He probably found out you were a Cleveland Browns fan! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Roger quipped, causing the whole rest of the office to burst into laughter.

"Are you kidding me? After I first became a Browns fan, I wanted to beat myself up!" I joked. Again the office exploded into laughter, with Roger slapping me on the shoulder. We finished up on break, and headed back to our cubicles. When I arrived at mine, I was shocked to see $15.00 lying on my desk! Alicia popped in from behind the cubicle and smiled shyly at me. "What the fuck are you doing here? How did you find me?" I gasped. If this was still a practical joke, someone was taking it to the extreme.

"It wasn't easy. My family has friends in high places. One of those friends managed to track you down for me. I came to give you back your money that you left, and to apologize for everything that happened." She replied, her face becoming extremely serious. "My cousin and his girlfriend wanted to apologize too, but they were too embarrassed to come with me. I can hardly believe I found the courage to come."

I took the money and stared at it in my hand for several moments. Then I got out my wallet and put it away and looked at her. "Well, the whole situation was…just odd I guess. Tell your cousin and his girlfriend that I forgive them."

Alicia bit her lower lip and looked at me with both worry and guilt. "What about me?

"You? Well, maybe…um…maybe if you'll…uh…let me…err…y'know…uh…"

"What?"

"Well, I mean, if you aren't busy or anything like that…I mean, I understand if you don't want to or have a boyfriend or something like that…but maybe you'd want to have supper with me after I get off from work?" I stammered and blushed deeply, looking like an oversized tomato.

She smiled that infectious smile again, blushed, and turned away. "I don't have a boyfriend, and I'd love to have supper with you tonight. When do you get off?"

"In about 4 hours…5:00. Is that ok?"

Alicia nodded. "Yes, I'll meet you here! Did you have any place in mind?"

"Heh…maybe Taco Bell? Those figures were awfully expensive. Um…this $15.00 is all I've got."

"Well, my treat then, to make up for yesterday! I know some more formal restaurants, where the food is so much better. I'll see you here at 5:00?" She asked.

"Until then!" I replied, grinning like a love sick idiot.

"ORIOUS!! Mr. King pays you to work, not talk!" It was Hector, he'd burst into the offices and was not snarling at the two of us. This was just great…the guy supposedly never left Royce's side, and now all of the sudden he was like my personal watch dog or something. He reached over, grabbed my shoulder and forcefully pushed me into my chair. At that moment…something happened. It was like a jolt of static electricity hit me or something. Hector clutched his hand, as though it pain. I was unhurt, but just extremely startled. Something had happened to me…suddenly everything was blurry through my glasses. Hector let loose a snarl like a wild predator and stalked towards me. I took off my glasses…rubbing me eyes, and when I looked up at him coming…everything was crystal clear…as though my eyesight was suddenly perfect. Something was wrong with his hand…terribly wrong…and I swore that I could see a faint cloud of gray smoke rising from it. The bald giant came closer and closer…until Alicia suddenly appeared between us. How was that possible? How could she have possibly gotten around both the cubicle booth, and Hector? I couldn't believe it…but I saw her eyes darken from their gentle honey brown color to nearly pure black.

"Leave him alone." She said quietly, but purposely. "Don't make me hurt you."

Hector stared at her for several seconds, and cocked his head to one side. "Who the hell are you?" He asked; his voice surprisingly calm.

"None of your business."

He smiled wickedly and took a step closer, until they were almost nose to nose. "Do you even know what you're doing? Do you realize how easily I could break you right now? I've wanted murder this…man…since he first set foot here. Are you really willing to throw your life away too? Truly, child, I have no desire to harm you…this is between myself and the obese one. Do have any clue at all about who you face?"

"I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't care either. Back off." Alicia told him, not backing down, even an inch.

"I have vowed never to harm one who is innocent. I sense no…malice within you, young one. Stand aside."

"You'll have to break your vow then. If you kill him…if you even hurt him…you harm me. This is your final chance, back off now."

Both of them were tense, waiting for the other to make one wrong move. It felt like watching two of the most dangerous creatures on the planet squaring off against each other…with no idea of which would win. I can't explain why it felt this way. There was just an aura about both of them. Could I trust Alicia? Why was she doing all of this for me? What exactly was Hector's problem anyway? All these thoughts swirled round and round in my head…or maybe it was an after effect from Hector touching me.

In moments Royce King and Samantha Grey entered. Samantha was whispering in King's ear, point out Hector, Alicia, and I…I could hear every whine and complaint she made about us, even though she was whispering as quietly as she could in her excitement and fear. King strode towards us with purpose, but he seemed completely unconcerned with the fight that was about to break out between his bodyguard and Alicia. "That will be all, Hector. You and the young lady have wasted enough of Mr. Orious's time." Hector turned on him, his face half full of disbelief and half full furious.

"Yes sir, Mr. King. I'll see you later, Orious." He cursed, turning his back and stomping out of the office. _Kiss my ass, fuckface._ I thought to myself angrily.

King watched him leave for only a moment. But his expressionless face stared only at me. I tried to stand up, and explain my side of things and what had happened, but when I did, I nearly toppled over, my legs feeling like jelly, and my stomach turned as though I would heave at any moment. Alicia caught me, and gently sat me back in my chair, her hand feeling my forehead. Again I felt that strange sensation from her…hot cold hot cold hot cold. Weirder yet, I felt differently about it. The first time it was a strange feeling and frightening…but now it was wonderful…chaotic, random, and wild. I took her hand, and removed it from my forehead…but continued to hold it. I felt the coolness of it run down the tips of my fingers, only to feel my hand begin to sweat as it heated up so quickly and so hot. The more intelligent and gentlemanly side of me screamed that this was not the place for such moments…and I obeyed that voice. But there was a new voice now…a feeling that this was right…that this was what I wanted and I should just take whatever I want. I released her and smiled shyly. "Sorry." I whispered.

Alicia stared at me for only a few seconds, her lips quivered as though she wanted more from me, but dared not let herself go. King cleared his voice, and immediately the two of us stiffened and faced him. "Young lady, it seems you have caused a disturbance in my offices. What is your name, my dear?" He asked.

"Alicia…Alicia Black." She answered.

Royce stared, emotionlessly at her, before cocking an eyebrow. "Black…isn't there a family on the La Push Reservation named Black?" He asked coldly. Alicia didn't answer. Royce approached her, and began walking around her, slowly and methodically. "Yes…I believe there is…I know that one member of that particular family fell in love with and married a girl from Forks…isn't that right?"

Alicia suddenly flinched, and I could tell that her jaw was clenched tight. Her hands shook, and slowly clenched into fists, but she still said nothing to King. "What was her name? I swear I read this in the paper not too long ago…Cullen wasn't it?"

I once again saw Alicia's eyes grow black and cold with rage. My own heart pounded; annoyed at these proceedings…King's bullying nature…every question he asked her seemed laced with pure hate. I stood quickly, my strength renewed and I grabbed Alicia by the wrist, pulling her by the arm and out of the office. She stumbled forward behind me, gasping in surprise. I passed by King, who made no attempt at all to stop me…and I felt it. What was happening? Damn it! I felt pure evil radiating from the man. Hatred, bitterness, vengefulness, these were the only things I felt when I rushed by. It was like King was concentrated evil or something. "I think I'm not feeling too good, Mr. King. I'm afraid I'm going to have to call it a day, sir." I told him, my voice harsh.

"As you wish, Mr. Orious." He responded simply…I didn't see it, but I knew he was smirking. I not only dragged Alicia out of the office, but out of the entire building. I opened the passenger side door of my rental car for her, waited for her to get in, and closed it. I then quickly walked over to the driver's side and prepared to climb in myself. I looked up for just one more brief moment and saw him there…Hector. It seemed that he'd been waiting for me, in the shadows of the alley next to Wulgar's. I wanted to go over there…kick his ass…go inside and beat the shit out of Royce next…but my better judgment told me not to, and again I was wise to listen. I sat down in the car, and we quickly pulled away.

"How did you do that?" Alicia whispered suddenly, staring at me in disbelief.

"Do what?" I asked.

"…" Alicia turned away and watched the road ahead. "Never mind." She said at last. "Don't you need your glasses to drive?" She asked suddenly.

"No." I replied. I wished I could have told her more…explained better…but everything was so weird…

"Listen…I…I know this is going to sound strange, and that we've just met and all that stuff…but I have to tell you the truth, I don't…" she began to tell me.

"…think that I should continue working there?" I concluded for her. She looked at me in amazement and nodded. "Yeah…I think you have the right idea. There's something about that place…about Hector…and especially about Royce King. He just seems…"

"…pure evil." She concluded, this time for me. I glanced at her, frowning, and nodded. "Would you excuse me for a moment?" She asked, pulling out her cell phone and showing me that she was going to make a call.

"Sure, no problem."

Alicia dialed and began speaking to whoever was on the other end. I didn't pay attention, but I could hear both their voices so clearly and loudly. "Yes, I'm with him right now, actually." She was saying. "Are you sure? I could ask him…but…I don't know daddy…we just had a confrontation with his boss at work. He was asking questions about you and mom. I know you do, but I mean…would that be safe…would the others be ok with that?" I winced…I hated how I was eaves dropping on her, but I couldn't help it. Without a radio on and my rage at Royce and Hector coming to a boiling point…I was willing to do anything to distract myself. "I could always ask him…he seems really cool now…sure, hang on." Alicia lowered the phone and looked at me, smiling that darn infectious smile again. "I'm sorry to spring this on you, Owen…but instead of going out to eat, would you like to meet the rest of my family? My dad…err…um…that is to say, we can still have dinner…just with them. My…cousin wants to apologize too."

I smiled at her and nodded. "Sure, that sounds great!" This would be good for me. Maybe I could finally get away from all the insanity happening to me all at once. Sit down with a nice normal family and eat supper. I breathed in heavily, and shook my head in an attempt to clear it. This was going to be great!

**Chapter 3: Nice Normal Family…Yeah Right**

_How do you think he does it?_

_I don't know!_

_What makes him so good?_

Pinball Wizard

The Who 1969

I followed Alicia's directions exactly as she guided me to the Cullen's house. "Ok…so tell me again about your family? What's the situation?" I asked her, already worried about seeing her cousin again…and meeting her folks.

Alicia frowned, and seemed to cringe at my question, as her mind raced to give me an answer. "Well…Dr. and Mrs. Cullen…that is, Dr. Carlisle and Esme…they've kind of adopted all the kids in the family. Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, Bella, Edward, and Renesmee are all actually their adopted children. My cousin deeply loves Renesmee and they've been together for a pretty long time."

"How old are Dr. and Mrs. Cullen?" I ask, astounded that they would have so many kids.

"Pretty young…Dr. Cullen and his wife are only in their early 30's, but they love kids…since they can't really have any of their own."

"Don't they take offense to your cousin…who looks like he's maybe 25…dating their adopted daughter…who might be 17 at best?" I asked, frowning on the idea myself.

Alicia blushed and smiled as though she knew something I didn't. "No, not at all. Jacob is very loyal and a good friend to the family. Oh! Turn here!" The car skidded badly, as my foot slammed onto the break, and I turned into an almost invisible driveway, shrouded by an overgrowth of trees, moss, and other plants. It was bad enough that the roads were soaking wet and that this driveway was almost hidden, but to make matters worse my eyesight and hearing kept coming and going. One moment I would be listening to Alicia talking about this and that, the next minute I could hear every word of some conversation in a house we passed. It was like I was Superman…and my senses couldn't make up their minds to be normal or ultra powerful. I really wanted to just get away. All this crap happening to me, and instead of figuring things out, I'm on my way to meet my potential girlfriend's family. There was something about Alicia though; her touch, the way she looked at me and the change in her voice when she talked to me. There was something about it all that drew me to her and made me want her.

We drove down the long driveway, coming upon the Cullen's huge house. I whistled in amazement at the size of it. "Gee…some place they've got here…" I gasped.

"Well, Carlisle is a doctor…he's one of the best, and built quite a fortune for himself!" Alicia commented, the obvious pride and admiration she held for this guy, clearly in her voice.

I parked the car and climbed out, going over to the passenger door to help Alicia, as any gentleman would do, but my senses went nuts again. I groaned and slammed my eyes shut, as I tried to block out all the sounds I was hearing. Unfortunately, I thought I heard my name once or twice…and it seemed to be coming from inside the house. I listened carefully, hearing everything that was being said.

"JACOB! This is all your fault! Why on Earth would you go to a place like Wal*mart for??? I know tons of places far better than that! If you would have just told me that's where you were going, none of this would have happened! You know how hard it is for me to see you…worse yet; I didn't see this Owen person coming at all!"

"Please, don't yell at Jake, Alice. We were just going to run in real quick, grab the parts for Jake's motorcycle, and get out! Poor Alicia just imprinted on Mr. Orious! It isn't anyone's fault!"

"Still though, this was a very bad idea. Bringing a human here…do we have the self control to keep from killing him? Remember all the problems we had with Bella."

"Edward, have faith in yourself. I know that everyone will be strong for Alicia. We will treat Owen just as we treated Bella, with kindness and respect."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Carlisle…it's just that…"

"Aw, who cares, Edward? This is the greatest thing to happen to this family! I can't wait to meet the guy! Heeheehee, hey Jacob, tell us again about what a dork he is! I really wish I had been there to see your expression when Alicia fell for the guy!"

"Shut up Emmett."

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha….!!!"

"Owen??"

I blinked my eyes and managed to break myself out of my eavesdropping…or whatever it was I was doing. Was that really what was going on in the house? Did I really hear all of that? I looked at Alicia, who stared at me with concern.

"Are you alright? Are you feeling okay??" She asked me, her musical voice filled with concern.

"Oh…uh…yeah…sorry about that, Alicia. I just, um…had a little bit of trouble there. I think I must be coming down with a touch of the flu or something." I lied, wincing a little at how lame my excuse sounded.

Alicia frowned, not believing a word of it, and gestured for me to come with her. "Ok…let's go…" She said, still sounding worried.

We walked to the house, side by side, and my hearing once again picked up, and I could hear everything being said in the house.

"Ok, here they come. Remember everyone; try to make Owen feel welcomed. No funny business, Emmett!"

"No funny business Esme, I promise…hey Edward…what's the guy like? Please tell me he's even worse than dog boy said!"

"…"

"Well??? Out with it!"

"I…I can't hear anything from him, Em. Nothing. It's just as bad as it was with Bella."

"So…Alice can't see him…and you can't hear him…that can't be good."

Just as suddenly as it had come, my super hearing was gone again, and all I could hear were the natural noises of the outside world. I glanced at Alicia, just as we came to the door, and she was biting her lower lip. She had an expression on her face…and I almost wondered if she'd heard the conversation as well. I opened my mouth, to ask her…but quickly shut it again. No sense in making myself sound any worse than her family obviously already thought I was.

Alicia opened the door, took me by the hand, and led me inside. I looked around at the big beautiful house and the huge assortment of objects collected all about. There to meet us first were a lovely couple…obviously Dr. Carlisle and his wife…but much younger looking than I would have guessed. They were full of smiles, and stood with an air of dignity, as if they'd welcomed guests to their home many times before.

Off to their left was a pretty built guy and an absolutely breathtaking young woman. The guy seemed to be trying desperately to hide a smirk, while the girl was much more withdrawn and perhaps worried or concerned.

On Dr. Carlisle's right, stood another youthful couple, a tall quiet looking kid, and an extremely petite little girl with spiky dark hair. The kid nodded and smiled at me respectively while the tiny pixie gal just stared with curiosity.

Next to them was another teenaged couple. I was rather taken back…the young man had copper toned hair exactly like Renesmee, and his dark haired girlfriend shared almost the exact eye shape. It was almost as though they were all related somehow…but Alicia told me that each kid in this house was adopted…that they had all kinda found someone to pair up with and none of them were directly related. Both of them had a hint of worry etched on their faces.

Speaking of Renesmee…she and Jacob stood together, yet far apart from everyone else. Both were rigid and stiff, their expressions filled with deep concern and anxiety, definitely more so than anyone else in the house. I was aware that Jacob was protective of Alicia, but this was a bit much I thought. For some reason, deep inside, I felt very happy. I had caused this nice family a bit of chaos, and I found that to be wonderful. I had never felt this way before…I was always quiet and unassuming, never trying to make trouble or hog the spotlight. Why was I enjoying myself doing it now? More disturbing to me…and I understood better why I felt this way, everyone in the room, with the exception of Jake and myself, had the exact same honey brown eye color.

My eyes scanned the room over and over again…but I saw no signs of Alicia's father or mother. I wondered why they wouldn't be here, since she'd just talked to her father on the phone…wouldn't they want to meet me as well? Dr. Carlisle came over to shake my hand. He inhaled deeply through his nose, and hesitated shaking hands with me. He looked at my face, his eyes filled with confusion. His voice broke a little during his introduction…something he obviously wasn't used to happening. "Excuse me, I apologize…hello Mr. Orious. I'm Carlisle Cullen. Welcome to our home." His hand was cold…although there was a tiny tinge of warmth to it…like a rock being held close to a fire or something. For a brief moment, it reminded me of how Alicia felt all the time…but the cold quickly overwhelmed the heat and remained that way.

"Nice to meet you, thank you for having me. This is a pretty cool place you got here." I complimented. I heard a snicker or two from the built guy at the word "cool." Ignoring him, I continued. "You can just call me Owen, by the way."

Carlisle smiled and nodded. "Let me introduce you to the rest of our family, Owen." He gestured first to the woman next to him. "This is my lovely wife, Esme."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Owen." She told me, smiling so gently and so kindly, that I had to keep myself from just hugging her right then and there. She kind of reminded me of my mom I suppose. "Alicia tells us you are from Ohio. I'm from the Columbus area, myself."

"What? No shit?? I'm from a little town northwest of Columbus! Go Bucks!!!" I blurted out with in a VERY uncharacteristic manner, even lifting my fist to give her "five" before I realized what the hell I was doing. The poor woman could do nothing but stare in horror at my filthy language and crude way. Quickly I tried to backtrack and correct myself. Already I could see the built guy hiding his face in the kitchen while his stomach shook with uncontrolled laughter. Jacob hid his face with his hand, definitely embarrassed, while everyone else just gasped. "Uh…what I meant was…that's very cool." I corrected, sighing and feeling more stupid than I ever have in my entire life.

Carlisle frowned and gently took me by the shoulder, bringing me to the next couple. "Um…yes…uh…moving on…" He stammered. Esme stood back when he led me away, but before we were completely out of range, I felt a very gentle tap against the knuckles of my fist, and a playful "Go Bucks." whispered into my ear. Next we came to the built guy and the hottie blond girl with him. "This is Emmett and Rosalie. Kids, say hello to Owen."

Rosalie looked at me with disinterest and began to offer her hand, but Emmett leaped in front of her and shook my hand so much I felt like it was going to come off in his hands. "Hey, Owen, great to meet you! I'm Emmett of course, and I think it's really…cool…that you're here! I mean, from what Alicia has said, you're like one of the coolest guys ever!" he told me, obviously making fun.

I smirked, taking it all in stride. "Well, it's nice to meet you too, Emmett." I told him.

"Thanks man, that's really cool, y'know? Maybe we could talk about comic books and stuff later…" He continued, laughing, as everyone else rolled their eyes.

"Maybe, if you want to, Emmett." I said, smiling, but shaking my head at his goofy antics.

"That would be very cool! I have to tell you, I'm actually a pretty big super hero fan myself. Spider-man, Superman, Hulk, Batman…all the classics. I used to have this one comic were Superman fought Muhammad Ali, and…" but before he could keep droning on and on, the hot babe slammed him in the stomach HARD.

"Shut up, Emmett."

"Yes dear…" He gasped.

"I'm Rosalie Hale. It's a pleasure to have your acquaintance, Owen." She said, offering me her hand, which I gently shook.

Next, I was introduced to the spiky hair girl and her boyfriend. "Owen, this is Alice, and her boyfriend Jasper Hale." Carlisle informed me. Alice tilted her head to one side, and her eyes gazed off as though she were trying to go into some sort of deep daydream…but she suddenly snapped out of it, grimaced and sort of glared at me.

"Hi." She said with more than a little sadness in her voice, but she didn't offer to shake hands. Jasper was friendlier, even patting me on the shoulder as we introduced ourselves.

"Alicia told us that you're into games. If you want, we can go upstairs and play the new pinball machine we got." He told me.

"That sounds like fun! I'll have to take you up on that!" I said, politely, even though I secretly abhorred the idea. I hadn't played pinball since my mom passed away a few years ago. After her death I did nothing but play pinball games mindlessly…my friends in Ohio said I was amazing, but I wouldn't know. I always zoned out when I played and just tried to get my mind off of my mom.

Alicia, Carlisle, and I soon moved on to the last couple I wasn't familiar with, Edward and Bella. Bella was nice enough, not talkative at all, but polite. I remembered what I'd heard earlier about Edward not being able to "hear" me, whatever that meant. Carlisle formally introduced me to him and I smiled. "HELLO. MY NAME IS OWEN ORIOUS, BUT YOU CAN JUST CALL ME OWEN. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? MY NAME IS OWEN. OWEN! IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU." I shouted to him, trying to carefully pronounce every syllable that I spoke. I had absolutely no experience with deaf people, and I felt really bad not being able to communicate with sign language. Hopefully he could read lips and get the gist of what I was trying to say.

"Uh…hello? Nice to meet you?" He said in a confused voice. I looked at him, did he understand?

"Wait…are you even deaf?" I asked.

"No…" He replied, more confused.

"But…I thought I heard someone say you couldn't hear me…" I said softly, looking around. Everyone else just looked as confused as the two of us. I turned back to Edward.

"I…don't know who would tell you that, or why, but that's certainly not the case. I can hear you just fine." He told me, although there was something wrong in his eyes that gave him away.

I stared at him hard for just a few more moments before smiling apologetically. "Oh, well, sorry about that anyway, Edward."

Before anymore words could be exchanged Jacob and Renesmee approached, each offering their hands to shake. I hadn't noticed before, but Jacob was almost the exact opposite of everyone else. His hand was blazing warm; meanwhile, Renesmee's hand was slightly cool to the touch, but not as bad as the others, nor as chaotic as Alicia's. "Hey Owen, I just wanted to apologize one more time to you for the misunderstanding and all. Alicia is…well…very important to me and I love her very much. She seems to have taken a liking to you, and I hope that maybe you feel the same way about her." Jacob told me.

I thought about how Alicia stood up for me against Hector in the office, and I nodded in answer. "To tell you the truth…I think I really like her too." I said at last.

"Owen, if you have time, would you like to stay for dinner and maybe catch the game with us?" Alicia blurted out, although she blushed immediately when nearly everyone else in the room shot her a glare.

"Well, if it's ok with everyone else." I said sheepishly. "What game's on?"

"The Sox vs. the Yankees!" She exclaimed.

"What else is on?" I asked, hoping that I hid my grimace at the thought of watching baseball…quite possibly the most boring sport ever invented by man, just behind golf and NASCAR.

"Well, let's see!!!" Emmett interrupted, grabbing a television guide and hopping over to us.

"EMMETT!!!" Rosalie growled at him, as though he were offending Alicia and me for some reason. He smirked and quickly shook it off, even dodging out of the way of his brothers.

"Oh ho! What have we here? The Incredible Hulk marathon is on sci-fi! Nothing says 'cool' like watching 24 hours of Bill Bixby!" He said with a grin, still trying to get a rise out of me.

"Thor would kick the Hulk's ass." I said with just a hint of a smile.

"No he wouldn't! Didn't you see 'The Incredible Hulk Returns?' Hulk beat the crap out of him in that…" Emmett argued.

"Oh, so Emmett, you must be pretty 'cool' to know so much about all this stuff!" Edward jumped in, emphasizing the "cool" word by making bunny ears with his fingers. Obviously, Edward was trying to help me turn the tables on his big brother.

"I have seen that movie…and the fight was rigged." I teased.

"RIGGED? Are you out of your mind??" Emmett yelled.

"It was the Hulk's movie, so naturally the Hulk got to win. Had it been Thor's movie…or any other movie for that matter, Thor would have won." I replied, crossing my arms in defiance.

"You're completely insane! The Hulk is the strongest one there is, in the comics he…" Emmett argued, actually getting a little emotional about this whole goofy argument.

"Come on, Em! You've made all of us watch that movie on DVD a million times! We all know the fight was rigged!" Jasper jumped in, getting in his shots.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!!! I DON'T OWN THAT DVD!" Emmett yelled, getting madder and madder.

"Yes you do, when the rest of the family was gone, you made ME sit down and watch it with you!" Jacob tried to growl, but he was too busy trying unsuccessfully to hide his laughter.

Before Emmett could argue anymore however, Alicia reach out from behind me and grabbed him roughly by the shirt pulling him nose to nose with her.

"If you don't leave poor Owen alone, I'm going to 'Hulk out' on you…you're not the strongest member of this family anymore, GOT IT?" She snarled at him.

"Heh…got it." He said sheepishly, but he seemed determined to win the argument. "But all I was going to say is that…" however, Rosalie grabbed him by the ear and pulled him away.

"You're not going to say anything! Alicia, why don't you and Jasper show Owen that game…let me deal with this guy…" she said, to which Alicia nodded and grabbed me by the hand, dragging me up the stairs, with Jasper closely following behind.

"The game is right up here Owen, you'll love it! Jasper, Emmett, and Edward supped it up to make it harder, but everyone has gotten really good at playing it!" Alicia exclaimed, as we climbed the nearly breathtaking beautiful stairway to the next floor. I was just thinking that everything about this house was absolutely gorgeous…until I saw it. There it was…off in a little game room with all sorts of other high tech video game equipment and entertainment. It was a yellow, black, and purple pinball machine…and adorning every side of it was The Count from Sesame Street. "THE COUNT'S PINBALL GAME!" read the top of the billboard. Just below it was the purple vampire Muppet himself, posed with the scoreboard in his hands, and his mouth wide open as if he were laughing and having the tie of his life.

Jasper walked over, grinning all the while, and plugged the monstrosity in. "We not only fixed it to make it harder…but to save our scores too. Ha ha! This machine can get pretty loud!" He told me.

"VELCOME TO ZEE COUNT'S PINBALL GAME!!!!! AH AH AH!!! PLEASE INSERT YOUR QUARTER NOW! AH AH AH!!" The machine practically screamed at us.

Jasper and Alicia laughed and laughed, giving each other a high five, as if they were in on some private joke. "Can I play first, Jasper? Please? I want to show Owen how much fun it is! Please please please???" Alicia begged Jasper, like she was a little girl.

Jasper reached into his pocket, pulled out a quarter, and handed it to her. "Check this out Owen, this is great!" He laughed.

Alicia laughed right along with him, and put the quarter into the machine. "VONE!!!!!! YOU HAVE INSERTED VONE QUARTER INTO ZEE COUNT'S PINBALL GAME!!! AH AH AH!!! SCORE AS MANY POINTS AS YOU CAN, AND COUNT ALONG VITH ME, ZEE COUNT!!!! AH AH AH!!" The machine bellowed. I flinched, pretending to be scared of the beast-like thing. Alicia pulled back the launcher, and the machine kicked into action. I stood off to Alicia's left as she hammered the buttons, while Jasper stood on her right. This family must have been gaming experts, had god-like reflexes, or cheated somehow, as "making it harder" was an understatement! First of all, there were five balls instead of just one, as is normal. Secondly, the balls were all very tiny, just barely able to even be hit by the paddles…and being small made them VERY fast too. If even one ball got past the paddles, the player still lost their turn…and the more balls that went past, any "extra lives" or "bonus balls" were lost too! I looked at the scoreboard, and was very impressed with all the insanely high scores. Alice was number one, followed very closely by Edward. The rest of the players had high scores too, but none of them were anywhere near as close to Edward and Alice. Emmett was next, followed by Jasper and Alicia. Bella, Carlisle, Renesmee, Esme, and Rosalie were the bottom scores.

After only a little while, Alicia allowed the game to beat her, and the obnoxious Count thanked her for playing, and tallied her score. She turned to me and gently led me to the front of the game. "Your turn! Give it a try Owen! I'll bet you can beat Jacob, he hates this game…and only because he's horrible at it!" She laughed.

"Hey, by the way man, don't feel too bad if you don't score as high…we've all…um…got a lot of experience playing this, so we're all really good." Jasper reassured me.

"Thanks…" I said, smirking. "Do you all want me to beat this bad boy for you?"

"Ha ha ha! What? What do you mean?" He laughed.

"Got a scarf?" I asked. Alicia ran off and got one and gave it to me. As both of them watched with suspicion, I tied the scarf around my eyes, until I was completely blind. "Quarter please." I said. A metal coin was pressed into my hand, and I slowly felt me way to the slot, and dropped it in. "VONE!!!!! YOU HAVE INSERTED VONE COIN INTO…" the machine blared once more…but soon I was in my old zone and heard it no more. I grabbed the release and let the little balls fly. The machine vibrated beneath me, as my fingers rapidly tapped the paddle buttons over and over again. I didn't hear the Count; I didn't hear Alicia or Jasper…all I could hear now was my mother's voice. I heard her sing the lullaby she taught me when I was very young. I heard her admonish me for gaining so much weight. She congratulated me when my high school grades were good, and yelled at me when they were poor. Through the blackness I could see her smiling at me during Christmas time after a visit from Santa, and at Easter when the Easter bunny would come. I heard her familiar chuckle and could almost feel her arms around me when she hugged me. The scarf became wet as tears began to flow…I mourned her again when she died. Suddenly I was out of the zone, and stopped playing the game. I patted the scarf around my eyes, drying them, and removed it. I looked at the score, 999,999,998. One point away from being maxed out, I always did that with every machine I played…so that someone could come along someday and beat me. The cursor blinked over and over again at the number one spot, and I typed in my name, "Orio" since it couldn't hold "Orious." It seemed my little spectacle gathered a good bit of attention…instead of just Jasper and Alicia, the entire household had gathered around me.

"Mr. Orious? Are you ok?" Esme asked her voice filled with concern, as she placed her cold hands on my shoulders.

"Yeah buddy…heh…you really zoned out on us there." Emmett added, looking equally worried.

"I'm…I'm fine…" I told them, the sad memories still flooding through my brain. "It's just a…um…little thing that happens to me every time I play one of these things. I just kinda get to thinking of…stuff. It's nothing really. I'm cool. Sorry I worried you all…and…uh…sorry about this scarf…" I held up my former blindfold, which was sopping wet now with my tears. Bella took it.

"It's ok. Alicia, why don't you take Owen downstairs and get him something to eat. It's almost suppertime!" She said. While everyone else stayed upstairs, watching us, we went down and to the kitchen.

**Chapter 4: Soul Bound**

Alicia invited me to sit at the bar while she fixed up some hamburgers, fried on the stove. All the while she looked rather worried and upset…and all the while my hearing kept going crazy, as though someone were turning up and down the volume of the entire world. I could hear snippets of the conversation going on upstairs between the rest of the family.

"…seems nice." Esme speaking?

"…yeah but he's much too old…" Jacob, definitely.

"…did you see how I embarrassed…" Emmett I was sure.

"…that wasn't very nice…" Probably Bella.

"…aw, he took it well…I think he's actually a pretty cool…" Emmett again?

"…still don't like that I can't see…" Don't recognize that voice…Alice perhaps?

Alicia asked me what I wanted on my hamburger, her beautiful face just barely able to mask her concerns and worries. I told her I just liked ketchup and cheese, and my meal was immediately served. Alicia didn't partake in anything herself, but she just stared at me with those honey colored eyes, biting her lower lip once again.

"Owen? May I please ask you something?" She said at length.

"Of course you can!" I replied with a smile just before my teeth sank into the hot bun and meat of my burger.

"Ok…here goes. What are you exactly?"

I looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow and quickly swallowing my food. "What am I?" I repeated her question. "I don't understand, what do you mean 'what am I?'"

Alicia breathed in deeply and looked into my eyes. "Well, it's just…you smell so strange…you smell much different from when we first met."

"Smell different? What?? What are you talking about, how did I smell before?" I ask, a tiny bit offended and checking my armpits for any hint of body odor.

Alicia was quick to explain. "You smelled human before. Now, you smell so strangely… like the calm before a storm. That's the best way I can describe it."

I cocked an eyebrow and took another bite of my hamburger, as she stared at me, her face troubled with how I would take all this. Honestly, I had no clue what the hell she was talking about. "Smell human?" Of course I smell human, I am human. Alicia frowned and looked away when I didn't say anything after a long while. She held her head in her hand and looked on the verge of tears, like maybe she was going to cry or something.

I swallowed my food, and put the hamburger back on the plate. I came over to her and took her by the shoulder, my mouth open as my brained attempted to come up with something comforting to say. However, Alicia grabbed me by the wrist and hastily dragged me towards the front door. "Please come with me, there's something…you have to know." She said. As we left, I glanced over at the foot of the stares. The Cullens family had all gathered there, Edward in the lead, and holding back Renesmee. The petite china doll looking girl didn't seem angry at all, rather, she seemed like she wanted to talk with us, but was heeding Edward not to come over. Alicia started to lead me away from the house, towards the woods. Before the house was completely out of sight, my damn Superman hearing picked up one last trickle of conversation from the house.

"She's going to tell him. Alice?"

"Edward, I'm sorry…but nothing. I have no clue how this is going to turn out."

"How do you think he'll take it?"

"It's the same as before, Em; I can't hear anything from Owen." Then silence.

Alicia walked along at a pretty swift pace, taking us deeper and deeper into the woods. I kept up with her for a little bit, before I quickly fell behind, puffing and panting. Damn it, I hated being fat and out of shape, but I didn't have the willpower to try to diet or exercise. I have no idea how far we were, but my legs would carry me no further. I had to sit down and regain my breath. Alicia saw me stop, and came to me, placing a hand on my back. "Are you going to be alright?" She asked.

"Y…y…yeah. Fine…just gotta…gotta hold up for a minute…" I managed to say between gasps. Alicia looked around, nodding as if she was deciding on something important, and her face suddenly became brave, as though she'd made up her mind. She watched me, as my breathing slowed. I stood to walk some more, but she put up a hand, and gestured for me to sit back down.

"We've gone far enough, there's no one around here except us. Owen, what I'm going to tell you might…scare you. I want you to know that I will never, can never hurt you. I'm begging you to trust me and don't be afraid of what you're about to see." I tilted my head in curiosity, but she did nothing, until she got some sort of answer from me.

"Ok…I promise. What ever you're going to show me won't bother me in the least." I said smiling, yet trying to hide the bad feeling I suddenly felt in the back of my throat.

Alicia walked some distance away from me, until she stood at the foot of an extremely large tree. She reached out, wrapping one arm around its trunk, and bent her knees. She looked back at me to see if I'd say anything. I was frowning, but was quiet. She went on with what she wanted to show me…it was certainly something I would never have guessed. In a single action, without a struggle or even a grunt, she ripped the huge tree out of the ground, roots and all! She lifted it like a shot putter, and hurled it into the air. It sailed higher and higher as I watched with both dread and amazement, until it completely vanished from view. I stood up and tried to see where it might land, but through the thickness of the forest, there was no chance. What seemed like forever, there was finally a faint crash heard in the distance, as the tree at last fell to earth. I whipped my head around, and gaped at Alicia. "How…what…you…" I managed to blurt. She didn't answer, and when I blinked she was suddenly gone.

"A…Alicia???" I cried. She was behind me.

"I'm super strong." She stated simply, vanishing again before my very eyes. I was startled to hear her soft voice whisper into my ear, and feel her lips brush against the side of my head. "I'm super fast." She said again. Instantly she was in front of me again, and walking towards me, as I cowered away. "I can't be hurt by punches or gun shots. I drink the blood of the living to survive. Owen, can you guess what I am?"

"C…Creature from the black lagoon?" I asked with a shaking voice…trying so hard to remain calm and be funny, even though I was scared shitless. A tiny smile creased Alicia's lips, but she only shook her head. "The Mummy?" I guessed again.

"Owen…you know what I am. Say it!" She ordered me.

"The 50 foot woman?" I guessed once more. She chuckled helplessly, then picked me up under the arms and lifted me easier than a child would lift a doll.

"Be serious!"

"Vampire?" I said at last. She smiled widely, wider than I'd ever seen before, and I instantly understood why. Her teeth were beautiful and seemed to sparkle unnaturally. I could tell, being as close as I was that they were actually razor sharp. She put me down and took a step backward. My heart slowed as I took all this in. I stared into her honey brown eyes, when I grew very suspicious. "You're not a vampire."

"Yes I am."

"No, you're not. Alicia, it's late in the afternoon…the sun is still up…if you were a vampire, you'd be very dead right now." I said,

"That's a myth. Sunlight doesn't hurt us. Maybe when it isn't overcast, I'll show you what really happens." She told me.

"Garlic?" I asked.

"Myth."

"Coffins?"

"Myth."

"What about holy symbols?"

"Carlisle was the son of a pastor…I can't speak for the whole family, but he and I actually enjoy looking at crosses and the Star of David and other such things." She informed me.

"Stakes through the heart?" I immediately asked, determined to find one myth to be true.

"Oh, those will work, but not because we're vampires…we're vegetarians!" She quipped.

I couldn't help myself anymore, and burst into laughter. "VEGETARIANS? What, do you go around attacking whole foods?"

Alicia laughed along with me. "No no…ok…here goes. Stakes through the heart won't really do anything. Our kind drink blood…most vampires drink human blood. You can always tell which ones do, because their eyes turn red. However, we don't need human blood to survive…it's just more potent for us. When a vampire drinks only blood from animals, our eyes turn this honey brown color."

"So that's why your eyes were all the same…wait…Jacob's eyes weren't honey brown." I deduced.

"He's not a vampire." She said.

"He isn't?"

"No, he's a werewolf." Alicia said, grinning slyly.

"WEREWOLF? Oh crap…when's the next full moon?"

Alicia laughed again. "Myth." She told me.

"Damn it! I'm going to be right one of these times!"

"Jacob can change whenever he wants to. And he doesn't become a two legged monster like you see in the movies, he just becomes total wolf. There are some other things about being a werewolf…um…and I really have to talk to you about that."

"What other things?" I asked her, a bit confused. Alicia turned her back on me and walked away, staring out into the darkening forest as night started to fall.

"I've…I've allowed you to take things for granted, to assume that things are normal, when really…everything about me is just one big mess." She said. "Owen, how old do you think I am?"

"Oh…twenty four, twenty five maybe?" I guessed, more puzzled.

"I'm three years old." She said, and with such seriousness, I knew she wasn't joking. She turned towards me to judge my expression, and when I only gaped stupidly, she began her story. "Jacob and Renesmee…they're not boyfriend and girlfriend…they're husband and wife. They're my parents. Vampires make other vampires by biting, sort of like you read in the myths. Edward and Bella are my grandparents. When Bella was still human, Edward actually impregnated her, and she had my mom…a half vampire. Female half vampires are supposed to be sterile...they can't bite anyone and change them; however, they can give birth like normal humans can. Jacob…my dad…made love to her…and they had me. Half vampires mature at a rapid rate. When werewolves reach a certain age, they fully mature earlier than humans. As both werewolf and vampire, I was fully grown and mature by two years old. Once we're done growing, we stop aging altogether."

I thought this over, and a realization came over me. I buried my face in my hands and began to tremble uncontrollably.

"What is it??" Alicia asked, rushing over to console me.

"NO! Don't touch…oh my god…I feel…dirty…" I shrieked.

"W…what do you mean?" She asked.

"I feel…I feel like I'm a child molester or something! You're only three fucking years old??" I choked, stumbling backwards as I tried to move away from her. "Don't you even know how old I am?? I'm thirty eight! I can't be friends with a three year old!"

"My physical age might be three…but Owen…I'm twenty five in mind, body, and spirit! Please try to understand…I realize that your reaction is valid…especially if I was a human three year old child…but I'm not…I'm fully mature…I'm a…a…" Alicia started to gasp, her face twisted in agony. "I'm a FREAK!" She turned and slammed her fist into a huge thick tree, splintering it with a single blow. As it began to fall forward she caught it, and in her rage threw it down, where it easily snapped in half. She stood there, tall and powerful, looking down at the carnage she'd created, when at last she slumped down and fell to her knees. Her hands covered her face and I could hear her making sobbing noises…but when I carefully came closer, I saw that no actual tears fell. Her face was legitimately pained, and her eyes were black as night.

"Alicia…I'm sorry…" I started to say, trying to come up with anything to make things right. My mind was racing at about a thousand miles an hour. I really couldn't believe what I'd been told…and I found it more impossible that the tall Native American girl before me was a genuine super human. A real life female Thor right before my eyes!

"It gets worse." She blubbered, looking up at me with hurt and pain. "Werewolves can fall in love, of course, but we're also blessed, some would say cursed, with the ability to imprint on certain people. To put it as simply as possible, imprinting basically means the werewolf has found their soul mate. Owen, on the day we first met…I imprinted on you. It wasn't my fault! We have no control over how it works!"

I stared for several moments, trying to take all this in. I have to admit, I had a billion questions I just wanted to ask. I was so confused, scared, and strangely, very excited all at the same time. But something dawned on me, and though I was scared of the answer, I let it out. "So…what you're saying is you don't like me naturally. Something forced you to like me." I felt something tug at my heart then. I slowly turned and walked away a little bit.

I could hear Alicia turn, and I felt her eyes upon me. "There was someone else trying to win me, but I never felt anything for him. I've always felt empty because of what I am. Full werewolves can't be turned into vampires. If they could be transformed…I think someone like me would be the outcome. I'm stronger and more powerful than any vampire or werewolf could ever be, but I'm ultimately all alone in the world. There's no one else like me and I never thought I could ever find love. I thought I'd be cursed even worse than my friend, Leah. Owen, girls aren't even supposed to become werewolves according to Quileute tribal lore. I like feeling this way…I'm happy that I imprinted…and that maybe I don't have to be alone in the world. That maybe, there's someone out there even for me."

I turned and looked into her sad eyes. For a while there was only silence between us. At last I found the courage to speak. "You aren't alone. You never have been. Those people in that house care very deeply about you…I can tell that just by looking at how they react to you." I said, gesturing towards the house. "Whether you want to believe it or not, in a way, I know what you're feeling. Look at me. I'm fat, ugly, and stupid. I can't lose a single pound no matter how hard I work, I have never had a serious date in my entire life, and I'm not close to anyone in my family anymore. In two years, I'll literally be the '40 Year Old Virgin' and sometimes I feel embarrassed about that. I guess what I'm trying to say it that…I know what it's like to feel all alone in the world."

We turned away from each other at nearly the same time, and I sat on the broken log across from where she was kneeling. I nervously twittled my fingers as I waited for either her to say something or to come up with something to say myself.

"Everything I've told you…everything I've shown you is the truth. Our kind hides among humans…and it's against our laws to reveal ourselves. Will…will you keep our secret, even if you don't feel the same way about me that I feel about you?" She asked at last.

"I won't tell anyone…who would believe me even if I did?" I responded, looking up at her at last. "As for how I feel…I need a chance to think. This is a lot to take in, y'know?" I managed a smile, which was quickly returned.

"Thank you Owen. I'll take you back to your car now." She said, and began taking off her shirt. I immediately turned my eyes away, as I heard her undress right in front of me!

"What the hell are you doing???" I squeaked.

"You'll see."

After a short while, she spoke again. "You can look now." There was actually some amusement in her voice this time, and when I looked…and gasped at her standing in the nude, she laughed whole heartedly. Then, before my eyes, she started to transform. Her size increased, her hands and feet became paws, and her face stretched into a muzzle. I fell off the log in my surprise, and peeked over it…only to be licked in the face by an absolutely huge white and russet colored wolf. Realizing that I'd just been licked in the face by a friggin' girl, and wiped my face.

"EW! Alicia, that was gross!" I groaned, as she walked around the log and came beside me. She made a quick panting noise, and I could tell she was now laughing. She then lay on her stomach and looked at me expectantly. I stuttered and stammered, feeling stupid that she felt she had to carry me…but as I thought about it…maybe I'd never get a chance like this again. I carefully climbed up on her back, and she stood up, as if it were no trouble at all. My arms wrapped around her neck, and she went into a little trot, and then suddenly broke out into a full fledged run.

The wind stung my eyes, and I had to wince to keep them from hurting. Alicia ran for miles, she was purposely going in the wrong direction, but I knew that she was just giving me a little tour of her family's lands. She was amazingly dexterous as she zigged and zagged through the trees that seemed to come at us nearly instantly. I hung on for dear life, although not once did I ever feel like I would lose my balance and fall, she was just that careful. Several times we came to the edges of huge cliffs, but each time she was able to jump down them without even causing me the slightest discomfort. I squeezed her a few times, and I managed to shout out an apology for holding on so tightly…I thought I had to have been hurting her. But she only made a rumbling type sound as if to say "you aren't hurting me, goof!"

I held my breath at several particularly frightening jumps, but each time I did so, I inhaled the smell of her fur. This close, I could smell her…and she didn't smell like a normal wolf or dog would. She smelled…well…like the earth. I guess that's the best way to describe it. Sort of a mixture of flowers, grass, and the ground itself. I could tell she used some sort of strawberry shampoo or something, but this barely covered her natural scent. I was embarrassed by my thoughts, and hoped she hadn't noticed me smelling her. It was so stupid of me, and totally out of character!

Before long, she slowed down again, and when I looked up from her neck, I saw my car only a few feet from us. Alicia lay down again and allowed me to get off. My legs felt like jelly beneath me from all the squeezing I'd done. I leaned against my car to catch my breath, when I heard her behind me. "I hope you enjoyed that little run." She said. I looked, and saw that she had already dressed, and stood tall above me, but still reminded me of a shy little girl who was talking to her first crush.

I took Alicia by the hand and smiled. "I had fun." I told her. "I…I'll call you soon." I continued, and then stood on my tippy toes to give her a small quick kiss on the cheek. The last thing I saw before getting into my car and driving away was Alicia smiling as though she'd just won the lottery, and holding the spot I kissed her at with her hand.

**Chapter 5: Dating for the Romantically Impaired**

_I just called to say I love you_

_I just called to say how much I care_

_I just called to say I love you_

_And I mean it from the bottom of my heart_

I Just Called To Say I Love You

Stevie Wonder 1984

I made it home in only a matter of a few minutes. My mind just kept racing with everything that had been happening to me. In only a couple of days I was both hired and fired from my job, I'd gained a soul mate, and she just happened to be some sort of super woman vampire werewolf and god only knows what else. On top of all this, she was only three years old…but looked like she was twenty five. She was far stronger, faster, and more athletic than I was. Not that being more athletic was saying something…Garfield the cat was in better shape and had more physical talent than I did. By the way her mom, Renesmee, and the rest of the Cullens dressed and acted, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Alicia was smarter and more sophisticated that I was too. Jake seemed more down to earth and a tiny bit more like me, but I'm sure being a friggin' werewolf has more benefits than a "weird smelling human" or whatever I was.

Alicia claimed I smelled strange, like a storm or something. In addition to that, my senses couldn't stop going crazy on me. My vision was suddenly perfect, and my hearing would cut in and out of private conversations at random. Alicia also said she wanted us to be friends…but I was more than positive that she obviously wanted more than that, and to be honest, I think I did too. But, I just couldn't help but think…why would Wonder Woman want to be lovers with "Peter Parker but with no powers?" This werewolf soul mate stuff made no sense at all. Everything was sudden…instant. I hadn't really earned her love…despite her telling me that she was happy about everything that had happened and was enjoying being my soul mate. I guess it was my low self esteem talking again. She loved me, and I knew I was falling in love with her…but I felt like I didn't deserve it.

I looked around my apartment at all the stuff I had yet to put away. I figured I really needed to get to work and get this chore done. The exercise would do me good and maybe I could sort things out better too. The first thing I did was go to my room and get my bed put together, as well as the mattress, sheets, and pillows. Already I was sweating heavily, and I wondered how much easier this would be if I could move as fast as Alicia. As I straightened out the rest of the room; moving the dresser where I wanted it, organizing my clothes, and all that stuff, I started to wonder; was I looking a gift horse in the mouth? If I was really this lucky to have fallen into this wonderful secret, should I just stop doubting myself and take what I want so badly? I could have my dream girl! I'd treat her right, love her, hold her, and kiss her! I saw her lips in my mind and I started daydreaming about what they might taste like!

Smiling to myself, I left the bedroom and started going through my living room boxes. I began unpacking my Rock Band stuff…but decided to leave it in there. I then went through my DVDs, until I came upon one in particular. I chuckled, and placed it in the box with my game. What a sweet girl, I sighed thinking about Alicia again. My skin grew goose bumps as I imagined her icy hot long fingers caressing my back, and felt her long soft night black hair on my cheek. I glanced at the time, and saw it was already 3:30 in the morning. I got up and went to my bed, but sleep didn't come to me. I was a lovesick puppy dog, and all I could think of was having my own personal Wonder Woman and her super hero family.

Enough of this, I thought, after only a little while longer of debating with myself. I'm in love, and there's nothing that can be done about it! I looked at the time: 4:30 am. I only hoped that the whole thing about vampires not sleeping at night wasn't a stupid myth. I picked up the phone and called Alicia's number. I had to look the Cullens up in the phone book. I forgot to ask for their friggin' number before I left!

The phone only rank twice before someone picked up. "Hello, Cullen residence." Said the cheerful voice on the other end. Ok, so far so good, the voice was certainly not tired sounding or grumpy.

"Uh…" It suddenly hit me. Who the fuck was I talking to?? There were other people living in that house besides Alicia…but in my dumb ass puppy love, I called expecting her to answer.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" The voice said. Ok, it was a bit more mature sounding…and certainly a man's voice. Probably belonged to the patriarch of the family…the doctor…but oh shit, what was his name??? I suck with names and faces.

"Hi…Carl…is Alicia there??" I asked, taking a shot at what I thought the guy's name was.

Dead silence, not even breathing on the other end could be heard. "Um…that's Carlisle." The voice responded with a tinge of amusement.

"Heh, right, sorry doc! Hey, is Alicia there?" I asked, slapping my palm to my forehead humiliated by my own stupidity.

"Of course, Owen. She's right here." He said with his gentle voice.

"How did you know it was me??" I blurted.

"Just a wild guess." He replied with a chuckled "Alicia, its Owen."

"OWEN??? Gimme!" I heard Alicia exclaim on the other end.

"Baby, say please!" someone said, berating her a bit, as though she was a child…well…she was a child kind of.

"Sorry daddy. Carlisle, may I please have the phone?" She asked politely, after which was a loud *thumping* sound.

"Alicia, you dropped the phone!" Alice I think.

"Thank you, captain obvious. I'm just so nervous, I can't help it!" Alicia replied with annoyance. "Owen??" she said after a few short seconds.

"Hi Alicia, how are you?" I said dreamily, just hearing the sound of her voice.

"I'm great, but Owen, it's so early…did you even get any sleep?"

"No, I couldn't! I just kept thinking about you all night!" I purred.

"Oh, Owen, you should get to bed, don't do this to yourself!"

"It doesn't matter!" I said, cutting her off before she could argue further. "I've thought about what you told me…and I do want to be friends with you! I…well…this is so hard to say on the phone but…well…I think I'm in love with you, Wonder Woman!" I teased.

"Wonder Woman?? Owen, you couldn't think of someone better?" She giggled. "What about Rogue, from the X-men, dahlin'?"

I laughed out loud and shook my head, even though she couldn't see. "Ha ha! Well, I'm kind of the Lois Lane in this relationship…although a very handsome and very manly Lois Lane!" She burst into uncontrolled laughter. "But what about Peter Parker? I know, I don't have spider powers…but maybe you could be Black Cat?"

"Me-ow!" She said very seductively into the phone. My heart skipped a beat. I started to get…well, let's just say, had that familiar feeling all men get when they're turned on. "The whole cat thing probably wouldn't work well with being half werewolf though." She lamented "What about you though? You might not have…as you put it…super powers, but you could be Batman! He doesn't have any powers!"

"Alicia, I think we should start seeing other people." I responded, tried to not laugh.

"What? Why? What's wrong with Batman? I think he's sexy!"

"I hate Batman, he's an idiot." I laughed. "We should stay with the whole monster motive…I guess I'll be Fronkensteen's monster."

"Don't you mean Frankenstein?" She asked giggling.

"It's pronounced Fronkensteen!" I laughed, doing my best Gene Wilder impersonation. "So anyway, can I come over again today?" I asked, blushing.

"Only if you promise to get some sleep!" she scolded. "Please come over, I'm dying to see you again, and the others are dying to tease you some more!"

I laughed again and nodded. "I promise! What time is good for you all?"

"Oh, say…5:00?"

"In thirty minutes?" I asked.

There was a hesitation on the phone, then a slight chuckle. "No, five at night." She replied. "I want some time to get ready…and the others probably want to make plans."

"5:00 then." I gushed, as a horde of goose bumps ran down my body in excitement and anticipation.

"See you then." She said.

We said our goodbyes, and I hung up the phone. If I'd been a cartoon character, I think little heart bubbles would have been floating around my head at that moment. Not having a job really sucked. Now, I had twelve dang hours to entertain myself until I could go to the Cullen house. I didn't even try to go to sleep; I was just way too excited, so instead I just finished up cleaning the apartment. To further pass the time I had a little Rambo marathon and watched all of those movies. After breakfast, I threw in all the Die Hard movies, and it was lunch time. Damn, this was taking too long! It seemed like eternity, but finally it got to be 4:00 in the afternoon. I grabbed my jacket and box full of Rock Band stuff, and charged out of my apartment building to my car.

I was way too early, but it didn't matter. All I could think of was being able to stare into Alicia's honey brown eyes again. I skipped up to the door with box in hand. Juggling it, I knocked on the Cullen's door in such a way that my knock played out the classic "shave and a hair cut two bits" jingle. Tiny Alice opened the door.

"Hi Owen! You're early, but please come on in!" She said with a big smile. "Oh, here, let me help you with that!" The petite little gal took my heavy box with one hand, no problem, and carried it as easily as I would carry a piece of paper.

I'd barely been through the door when Alicia appeared and came running to me. "Alicia!" I squealed like a school girl, "I'm so happy to see you again!" Alicia jumped into my waiting arms and she kissed me on the cheek, but then pulled back, and stared at me.

"You promised you'd get some sleep!" She admonished. Jeez, women…how do they know these things?

"I wasn't tired, I too excited about seeing you again!" I whined.

She hugged me again but whispered into my ear. "I understand, but get to sleep soon! Just because my family and I don't need sleep doesn't mean you don't."

"I'm sorry." I whispered back, suddenly feeling guilty about not doing as she said.

"Don't worry, Owen, all the guys in this house are pretty much whipped!" A cheerful voice called out. Alicia and I both looked and saw Jasper smiling and coming towards us. I clasped hands with him.

"Oh ho! Jazzy Jasper, the man, the myth, and the legend! How's the pinball game going? Anyone beat my score yet?"

"Not yet, Owen, but I've moved up a good number of spaces! Alice won't play anymore, and without being able to use her, Edward isn't as good at playing either."

"What? Edward used Alice to play pinball? What do you mean? And why won't Alice play anymore?" I asked, confused.

"Didn't Alicia tell you that part? Most of our family has special powers that are unique to only us. Alice can see the future, Edward can read minds, Bella can protect people from mental harm, I can alter emotions and feelings, Carlisle has sort of super human compassion, Rosalie has kind of a super never say die attitude, and Emmett is the strongest of us…err…except for Alicia, but that's a special case. Didn't she tell you any of this?"

I turned and cocked an eyebrow at Alicia. "No…somehow she skipped that part."

"Sorry Owen! I hope you understand, but I had more important things to worry about…mostly if you would accept all this or not." She responded.

"Well…anyway…" Jasper interjected, "Alice has tried to play a bunch of times, but every time she walks up to the game, she sees the future and sees that she doesn't beat your score, she then gets frustrated and quits! Edward used to read her mind when she'd see into the future when he played…and he'd adjust his playing style accordingly. Since Alice won't look into the future for him…his 'skill' has deteriorated somewhat." Jasper chuckled.

"I didn't mean to ruin everyone's good time!" I said sadly. From the corner of my eye, I saw Edward, his arm around Bella, coming down the stairs. "I have to admit though, I'm not too sure I'm keen on Edward rummaging around in my head."

Edward and Bella came over to us, but Edward was all business. "Oh, you won't have to worry about that. I can't hear anything from you." He said. "Normally, I'd really like that…Bella is the only one that has ever been able to block me out, and I actually like not knowing everything everyone is thinking for once. However, Owen, in your case I'm not so happy."

"Why's that?" I asked, puzzled.

"Because it seems, none of our abilities work on you. I've tried hearing your thoughts. Alice has tried seeing your future. When you were having that episode with the pinball game, Jasper tried to cheer you up. All of us have utterly failed. Alicia asked you once what you are and you dazzle her so much…" I noticed Bella squeeze Edward's hand at the word dazzle, "…that you managed to dance around it without answering. You're not going to do that with me. I want an answer and I want the truth this time."

"What the fu…err…heck are you talking about?" I asked with annoyance. "I'm human, flesh and BLOOD just like all the other humans in the world. This crap about being asked 'what I am' is starting to tick me off as much as people assuming I'm Greek."

"You're lying. I can tell that you're hiding something. Out with it, Owen! You have no idea how much danger our family is in just by being friends with you. Our kind have laws…and 'humans are not to know about us' is one of the most important laws we have. We were almost in trouble for it once" Edward eyed Bella this time, "and have Renesmee and Alicia in our coven almost got us in trouble two other times. I don't want to risk a fourth time; we've pushed our luck far too much already."

I couldn't believe this! Why was Edward grilling me? I hadn't done anything to him. Why didn't they believe I was human? "Listen, I promised that I'll never give your family away, you're safe. I don't understand why you think I'm not human, but you're wrong, I'm telling the truth. Listen, not everyone you meet is going to be a vampire, werewolf, or whatever else. I'm human, that's all."

Edward frowned and glared at me in silence. I didn't back down, and glared right back. What can I say? I was very annoyed and tact was never my strongest suit. "Guys, guys…break it up! We're all friends here!" Emmett called out, coming from the living room, as he and Esme in.

"Edward…what's going on here?" Esme asked, eyeing me strangely. I then noticed that everyone, except for Alice and Alicia, were all dressed up really snazzy.

Edward recomposed himself. "Nothing, nothing at all. Mr. Orious, I hope you'll take advantage of our hospitality. The family has decided to give you and Alicia some time to yourselves." He informed me in an overly formal manner. "Alice…" he made sure to punctuate that name "…is staying behind to keep an eye on things. I hope you have a good evening."

I blinked once or twice; pretty frustrated now at the obvious suspicion. "Hey, look, I realize you don't trust me, but I'm a perfect gentleman. I would never take advantage of your…um…granddaughter?" I told him sincerely.

"It's not really you that I'm concerned about." He replied.

"GRANDPA! That's not fair!" Alicia whined. "Owen's ok, why is Auntie Alice staying here?"

"We're just taking precautions, dear." He said calmly. "It's not really Owen that I'm worried about. Besides, you love Alice. You were named after her after all."

Emmett approached us, and he gently slapped me on the arm. "Don't worry about it; you guys will still have a good time. Hope you aren't mad at me for giving you a hard time yesterday, Owen. The comic thing is pretty cool; you'll have to check out my collection while you're here."

"I'll do that, but I'm pretty bummed you all are taking off." I replied sadly.

"Why's that?" He said smiling wider this time.

"Well, I brought something special for you." I reached into my box of Rock Band stuff, and pulled out the DVD from earlier. Emmett's jaw dropped nearly to the ground when I showed it to him.

"THE INCREDIBLE HULK SEASON ONE????" He exclaimed starring at the hologram cover of Bill Bixby turning into Lou Ferrigno. He took it from my hands. If he could have cried, I think he would have. "Banner…Hulk…Banner…Hulk..." he giggled as he played with the DVD cover, tilting it back and forth.

Edward watched him, and actually began smiling, while Jasper right out hooted. "Well, there goes Rosalie's evening!" He cackled.

Speaking of Rosalie, she emerged, and looked ten times more gorgeous than ever before, all dressed up nice and pretty. "Are you ready to go, dear?" she asked, oblivious to what was going on. Jasper snickered, as Emmett looked up at her, shocked out of his little daydreams.

"Um…no…change of plans…" he squeaked, like the whipped "husband" he was. "Uh…it's not fair that Alice has to stay behind and watch over things. I'm staying with the kids tonight."

"WHAT? I don't think so…then Alicia would be the most mature one here!" Alice responded with a grin. "Now I have no choice but to stay."

"Alright! Owen's got two girlfriends now…Alicia AND Emmett!" Jasper exclaimed, nearly bowling over in laughter.

Emmett shot him a dirty look, but continued to plead his case to Rosalie. "But…but he brought the Hulk! It's the Hulk, Rosalie…season one!!!! This is the only season I don't have yet! Couldn't find it anywhere, and it's been forever since I've seen these episodes…" Emmett argued. "The Hulk! Season one!!" He showed the DVD to Rosalie, who promptly snatched it out of his hand. She only looked at it for a second before turning her gaze on me.

"Thank you, Owen. Thank you SO much for bringing this over." Rosalie growled sarcastically, and then she placed the DVD on a nearby table and slumped into a chair.

"Hey, that's great! Now Alice can go with Jasper. Have a good time, guys! C'mon Owen, Alicia…let's go watch some Hulk!" Emmett said, in his excitement.

Alicia chortled and scampered after him, as I hung behind just for a few moments longer. "Sorry, Rosalie." I said sincerely. She rolled her eyes and managed a half smile before waving me off.

"I'll be there in a second." She sighed.

Just as I turned to go with Emmett and Alicia, I caught Jasper snooping through the rest of the stuff in my box. "Nice stuff…looks like you take pretty good care of these instruments." He complimented. "Hey…wait…what's this…" he pulled a dark brown book from the box and read the cover. "Dungeons and Dragons, Player's Handbook, 3.5 edition?" He looked up at me with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Oh fuck! How'd that get in there? Ha ha…this belonged to a friend of mine…I forgot to get it back to him…ha ha…gimme that…" I flushed with embarrassment, grabbing the book and rushing to catch up to the others. Damn it, next time I've got to be more careful about where I put my stuff.

Not long after, the others had left, Alicia, Emmett, and I sat on the couch, our eyes glued to the television set, as the bad guys had just beaten up David Banner. He looked at the camera screen, and his eyes were greenish white. Alicia cuddled up to me, giggling and snickering. By now, this had been the fourth episode we'd watched, and the three of us had made a little ceremony out of the transforming sequence.

"Oh no…Owen…do you think he's going to change???" Alicia asked with fake fear.

"I…I don't know…maybe he will…maybe he won't…I just can't be sure…" I told her with fake uncertainty, just as green muscles were ripping out of the shirt and jeans on the television.

"Here it comes…" Emmett said, bracing himself in anticipation. From where David Banner had laid only moments before…rose the incredible Hulk!!

The three of us stood up, raising our hands and cheering like little kids. "YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

"WHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

"THERE HE IS!!! THE HULK!!!"

"DUN DUN DAAAAA DUNNNNNN!" We sang in unison with the theme song that played whenever Hulk appeared. Rosalie, sitting by herself, groaned and hid her face in her hands. The bad guys on the television all screamed and stumbled over each other like klutzy buffoons as they tried to get away from the mighty Hulk.

"Oh no…you can't get away! Hulk is going to kick your evil asses!" I laughed at them, just as Hulk grabbed the nearest bad guy.

"He's got him!!" Alicia screamed, clapping her hands and hopping up and down. "I bet he throws him!"

"DO IT! DO IT!!" Emmett rooted, pumping his fist. The Hulk reared the villain back, a smile on his face, and we broke out into our new little rhyme/catchphrase for these moments…which we'd seen at least 6 times already. For those wishing to sing along, just sing as though it were "To Grandmother's House We Go."

"Over the table…" Alicia laughed.

"…And through the wall…" I continued, squeezing her with a hug.

"…To the Hulk's House of PAIN he goes!" Emmett concluded, and we all started high fiving and laughing like idiots as Hulk did just that, throwing the villain through a wall. Afterwards, the Hulk flexed and roared…but it was like he was laughing and having a good time right along with us.

"Two of them…how can there be two Emmetts?" Rosalie said of us, as she shook her head, watching us break out into our newly patented Hulk dance. "Can we turn this off now? Damn Hulk…" she whined.

"Ok ok…after this episode." Emmett snarled, with some regret in his voice. After the episode was over, we all settled down and had a nice chat as Emmett entertained us with his funny stories. After a long while, Alicia popped up and ran towards the window.

"Mom and Daddy are home!" she said with exhilaration.

Jacob and Renesmee had barely gotten through the door when Alicia grabbed them, and whirled both of them around in a huge group hug. "You should have stayed with us, Dad! That Hulk stuff is a lot more fun to watch when Owen is around!"

"Geez, what does everyone have against the gamma powered goliath?" Emmett asked me sadly.

Renesmee smiled, but she still seemed concerned as she walked over to me. "You…you aren't hurt or anything are you, Owen?" She asked.

"Of course not, we had a great time." I told her, shaking her hand and welcoming her back.

"Owen!! Show Mom our Hulk dance! You have to see this, it's so funny! Go ahead Owen, show them the Hulk dance!!" Alicia raved wildly.

"Ixnay on the ulkhay anceday, Alicia!" I chuckled in pig Latin, all the while blushing awkwardly.

"The Hulk has his own dance now??" Jacob asked, frowning with utter confusion. He shrugged and smiled the big toothy grin that I'd become so accustomed to seeing on Alicia. "Hey, guess what! We just heard it on the radio…there's going to be a big storm tomorrow!!"

Rosalie's eyes widened and she clapped her hands, laughing whole heartedly for the first time tonight. "Really? That's great news!"

"Why? What's so great about the thunder storm?" I asked.

"Well, whenever there's a big thunder storm expected that's when we get to play baseball." Renesmee explained.

"Wouldn't you get wet?"

"Sometimes, but that's the price we pay. You'll see why we play during storms tomorrow." Alicia jumped in.

"That is, if you want to. I got the impression you aren't a big baseball fan, Owen." Renesmee interjected.

"Oh, he's coming with us, whether he wants to or not! It's fun, O, trust me! You'll have a blast!" Emmett said, using my new nickname that he'd come up with tonight.

Just then, Alice and Jasper came in. "Hey Alice! Did you hear, there's going to be a storm tomorrow!" Rosalie asked.

Alice frowned sadly and shook her head. "We shouldn't play. Jeremy's going to be there."

**Chapter 6: The Bad News ****Bears**** Vampires**

"Who the fuck is Jeremy?" I asked, forgetting myself and slipping again with the vulgar language.

"Trouble." Jacob answered with chilling simplicity.

Emmett furled his brow with worry, and I saw his fists clench so hard they were virtually shaking. I asked more questions, but I couldn't get anything more out of them. Instead, we all sat in the living room in dead silence (or should that be undead silence?) and waited until the rest of the family came home. Edward and Bella arrived just moments before Carlisle and Esme, and I could see the gravity on Edward's face already. I figured he must have read everyone's thoughts when he'd arrived and he already knew what was going on. When Carlisle and Esme came in, Edward immediately pulled them aside, and had a brief whispered conversation with them and Bella. My wonderful reliable super hearing of course didn't bother to kick in at this moment. If they both weren't already pale, I think they would have been now, after hearing whatever Edward had to say. When they finished, Carlisle, Esme, Bella, and Edward then seated themselves with us in the living room. Everyone's eyes were suddenly on me. Why were they looking at me for? I didn't invite the guy.

"O-K…" I said after a few uncomfortable moments. "So, is anyone going to tell me more about his Jeremy guy?"

"Jeremy is sort of a friend of the family…" Jasper said, stressing the "sort of" part. "In vampire society we have our law makers, a group called the Volturi. They basically keep everyone in line, and they're very VERY dangerous. All their members have some sort of special ability of some sort, vampires who have such things are prized by them…call it a sort of collection, if you will. Caius, Aro, and Marcus are not only the founders, but are also some of the absolute oldest members of our race as well. Jeremy is Caius's newest child…Caius turned him into a vampire about 5 years ago or so, and Jeremy has become the pride and joy of Volturi. His power is incredible, Owen! Jeremy has the ability to instantly copy and master any vampire's power for one week. As long as he is within range of such vampires, he can hold onto those powers indefinitely."

"The Volturi…" Edward began, picking up where Jasper left off. …came to investigate us when their spies told them about Alicia and how special she is. Our family wasn't on the most pleasant of terms with them, and they came hoping to destroy us."

"Why?" I asked with surprise. The Cullens were great people. Why would anyone have a beef with them?

"We're growing too powerful in their eyes." Edward explained. "As you know, our family has special members of its own, and with the addition of Alicia, we've become a greater threat to them than ever. When they came, they brought their trump card, Jeremy, with them. As long as they have him, they are virtually unbeatable. Jeremy is fiercely loyal…the Volturi didn't even have to use any of their standard tricks to convince him to join them. He sees Caius as his father and would do anything to have his approval. Luckily for us…or maybe unluckily…when Jeremy laid eyes on Alicia he fell in love with her. He begged Caius not to harm her, and being Caius's favorite…Caius lamented and spared our family."

A cold pit opened up in the bottom of my stomach. How did Alicia feel about him? Alicia looked over at me immediately as if she could guess what I was thinking.

"Jeremy can be really nice…" She told me. "But the change has made him arrogant and cruel. He's visited us many times, and every time we've begged him not to feed on humans anymore. He tried only feeding on animals once, but after only a few weeks he went right back to feeding on humans again. He's addicted to the extra power that human blood gives to us and he refuses to change. Worse yet, he knows he's not only better humans, but his gift makes him superior to virtually any vampire too. If he finds out about you…about us…you'll be in constant danger as long as he's here."

"We'll ALL be in danger." Edward corrected. "If Jeremy doesn't attack us outright, it wouldn't be beneath him to go back to Italy and tell the Volturi any number of made up crimes we haven't committed. With them holding him in such high regard, and strongly disliking us, I imagine it wouldn't take much to get them to come and possibly wipe us out."

"It wouldn't take much at all…" Carlisle said. "We're already harboring a human who knows far too much about us already. Remember, it's illegal for humans to know about us, unless we're definitely planning on making them one of us." He said this directly to me, and it wasn't hard to guess what he was implying.

It didn't take Alicia long to realize it either. She sprang up, and pulled me off my seat. "Then there's only one answer! We have to make Owen into a vampire!" She cried.

The entire family stood up and gathered around us, all arguing with her.

"Now wait just one second…"

"…wouldn't be fair to Owen…"

"We can't just…"

"…no, she's right! I'll do it, I…"

"…can't do it, it's against everything we stand for!"

"…only if it meant life or death…"

"…but we're all in danger if we don't do it!"

Everyone was jumping in and the argument was going absolutely no where. Emmett and Alicia were definitely the biggest supports of changing me, and even Bella through in a few words in agreement as well, but everyone else was pretty much dead set against it. They were so loud, that I actually winced and held my hands up to my ears.

"HOLD IT! HOLD EVERYTHING! QUIET!" I yelled, trying to get them to shut up. I took Alicia by the hand and squeezed it gently. She looked at me, confusion clearly on her lovely face. "Alicia…everyone…" I said slowly. "Look, no offense, but I don't really want to be a vampire."

"You…you don't want to be a vampire…" Alicia repeated absently. Now her look was both shock and confusion. "…but…what about that danger?"

I looked at her and smiled sadly. "Look at me, honey, and then look around you. I'm a clown trying to fit in with a bunch of super models. I can't tell you how hard I've tried in the past to lose my weight and try to look better. I've always failed…and if I'm changed…I don't want to be stuck this way forever. When my time comes, I hope you'll just let me go." Deep in my heart I didn't mean it. I wanted to be with her forever and never leave her, but I had such a low self esteem I didn't give a second thought that beauty on the inside is what matters.

After that, there was quiet for a long while. Alice looked away, seemingly going into another trance. "Jeremy shows up…but he seems happy. Maybe he found someone else to latch on to? Didn't Caius turn a young girl a month ago, the one that basically has the opposite of my powers? She seemed to really take a fancy to Jeremy. What was her name?" She asked shortly after coming out of her spell.

"What do you mean; she has the opposite of your powers?" I asked.

"Oh, you mean that girl from Argentina? Her name was Kai. Nice girl. Kai can look into the past, Owen, and see things that have already happened." Emmett broke in, trying to sound cheerful and break up the still somber feeling in the air. "I think we should go play...why should we let Jeremy ruin our good time?"

I can't say I was all that thrilled with all this baseball talk. I'm really just a football (American) type of guy, but Emmett was soon busy trying to convince everyone that everything would be ok. Slowly but surely the others did start to warm up to the idea. I guess it'd been a while since they'd played. All the while, though, Alicia just sat quietly. I think I would have seen tears running down her cheeks, if she'd been able to cry. I think my confession about not wanting to be a vampire shook her hard…and maybe the realization that our time together would be much shorter than she undoubtedly dreamed of. I felt extremely guilty because I didn't mean to hurt her like that. Such a short time to know someone…yet to fall so hard in love with them, even if doing so wasn't a completely free choice. I knew that I was falling for her hard as well. It seemed like she was the perfect one for me. But then, wasn't that was this imprinting stuff was supposed to be all about? Imprinting meant finding your soul mate, and it seemed Alicia and I were destined to be together. I won't lie; it was exactly what I wanted. I was, and even now, still am extremely selfish. To have this Native American beauty fall for someone like me…well…it was a dream come true. I vowed I would never be like lesser, evil men who manage to find themselves in similar situations. I would NEVER use, take advantage of, or abuse my Alicia…I would stay loyal and chaste for her until the day she was ready to take me as her lover. I wanted to taste her lips. I wanted her! Petty lustful thoughts from a petty, selfish, and lustful fool. I was happy then, that Edward couldn't hear my thoughts.

As the family continued to discuss the matter, I quietly and subtly made my way to Alicia. She was actually startled when I sat down beside her, obviously her pain ran deep, and she had been oblivious to what was going on around her. I wrapped my arm around her tenderly, and she threw herself into my arms, curling up, and laying her head on my chest. I could hear her making soft sobbing noises, and I gently rocked her back and forth. Her incredible height and her very nature made her heavy, but it didn't matter to me, as her icy hot touch burned and chilled me at the same time, and kissed her forehead slowly. She became silent, but I could still feel the sadness emanate from her. Her body tensed, she'd never been kissed like this before in her entire life. I'd only had the pleasure of experiencing anything like it once myself and I ruined that moment by bursting out into a giggle. Alicia raised her head and stared at me with her big honey brown eyes. She leaned in closer…closer, her lips nearly brushing against mine.

"*AHEM*" Someone cleared their throat. The two of us separated faster than lightning. Everyone had stopped arguing and were staring at us! Jasper and Emmett snickered, while Alicia's daddy, the one doing the throat clearing, Jacob, glared.

"Um…it's been decided." Carlisle announced, obviously hoping to lift the mood much like Emmett had tried to do earlier. "We're going to play baseball tomorrow, we won't worry about Jeremy. The storm is supposed to hit around noon time, Owen, will you be able to make it and join us?"

"Oh yeah…sure…no problem…heh…it's not like I'm working or anything." I replied, kind of regretting that I was spending so much time on my love life and not enough time finding another job.

Alice's eyes widened as if she just remembered something, and she ran to her coat and was just as suddenly standing in front of me. I was going to have to get used to vampire super speed. She handed me a lottery ticket. "I'm so sorry! I forgot, here, this is for you." Alice told me.

I laughed and took the ticket. "Thanks. I guess I should be buying more of these if I don't get a job."

"Why? That's the ticket that's going to win tomorrow. Be sure to call and collect your winnings." She replied.

"WHAT? But how…"

"Alicia shows me her beautiful new bracelet that you buy her tomorrow. She tells me that you win the lottery with this ticket that I'm giving you now, and you will use that money to buy her a bracelet and a car for yourself. I can't see your future, Owen, but I can circumnavigate around some things and still see a little bit."

"The future is confusing…" I muttered, looking down at the ticket. Holy fucking shit! The lottery was going to be for 24 million fucking dollars, and I was holding the winning ticket? "No…I can't take this…you should…"

"Don't worry about it, Owen. A pretty good size of this family's fortune comes from winning lotteries!" Esme told me with her typical pleasant smile.

I almost hugged the ticket and carefully put it in my wallet. I didn't know what to say, as tears started to build up in my eyes. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome! Have a good night and see you tomorrow!" Alice said, kissing me on the cheek, then going over to Jasper, taking him by the hand and heading up stairs.

"Or rather, see you later today!" Emmett grinned, pointing at a clock. It was 3:45 in the morning! How could time have passed so quickly?

"How…how in the hell did it get so late?" I whined. "Yeah…I'll see you all tomorrow…meet you here?"

"Yes, just meet us here. I'll walk you to your car, Owen." Edward said. Alicia got up to follow us. "Alone…" Edward snarled, glaring at her gravely. Alicia stopped, and looked at us meekly. Renesmee took her by the hand and lead her towards the stairs.

"Come on, let's let them go." She told her. It was still strange, seeing such a small and young looking girl like Renesmee leading Alicia around like a mother would with her child. Edward smiled pleasantly and motioned for me to lead the way out the door. I chuckled softly as we headed towards the car.

"What's so funny?" Edward asked.

"I'll never get used to those two. Just knowing that Renesmee is 12, but looks 17 and acts 30, while Alicia is 3 but looks 25 and acts like she's 18, it's all so crazy! Whatever happened to all the myths? I thought vampires were all supposed to be a billion years old and stuff."

Edward shrugged and laughed. "Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Esme, Carlisle, and I are all over 100 years or older, but Bella's only 28 and Jacob is about 27."

"Ugh! You mean I'm older than Bella too? I thought she was around your age or something."

"No, I'm afraid not. You aren't quite as young as you thought you were. Owen, I want to warn you again. Please be careful with the way you act around Alicia." Edward told me.

I looked down at the ground, wincing a little bit. "Yeah…I know. I promised you I'd be a perfect gentleman, and I had been all night, until everyone came home. You can ask Emmett and Rosalie, they'll tell…"

"No, I'm not worried about that." He said, a bright little gleam in his eyes. "You're in love, I can tell, and it's only natural that you would want to express your love with Alicia, but for your own safety, please try to restrain yourself."

"Why?" I asked, confused. What was his point with this?

"I can read her thoughts. Owen, Alicia wants you bad. She wants to experience everything that those around her have experienced. Being imprinted on you, she knows that you're the one and the way you make her feel has become a consuming obsession with her. She always wants to feel the way she felt with you tonight. When you said you…weren't interested in ever being changed…she's become a tiny bit panicked that she'll lose you far too soon before she's ready. While she's fully mature and more intelligent than the vast majority of people I know, she's still young and hasty to make decisions. If you'd kissed her…the way you were going to…she would have kissed you back…more passionately than you could imagine…and most likely she would have crushed you like a grape. You're a big guy…and I'm sure you're pretty strong for a…human…but you already know our kind are far stronger than you'll ever be, and Alicia's even far stronger than that. Holding hands and hugging is ok, but any more than that, and you could be in great danger. Alicia simply hasn't developed the proper self control or discipline yet. Give her time, Owen."

I grinned and put a hand on Edward's shoulder. "Thanks, Edward. I understand what you're saying, and I'll try to remember that from now on." I opened the driver-side door of the car, then looked up at the huge Cullen house, and saw Alicia's silhouette in one of the windows. "Hmmm…just out of curiosity, how am I scoring with the rest of the family so far?" I asked him.

Edward chuckled. "Emmett hopes you marry Alicia. He loves her a lot and is thrilled that she's found someone who makes her feel so happy. He also thinks that the two of you will be best friends because your personalities mesh very well together. Even now he's going through some of his comics to try and find anything with Thor in it for you!"

I laughed out loud, and had to wipe a few tears from my eyes. "What about Rosalie?"

"Rosalie puts on a show sometimes…to try to come off as very proper and sophisticated, but she really likes you too. She thinks you're very funny. She especially likes your hair color and smile." Edward continued before I could ask. "Jasper thinks you're hilarious. He hopes you'll be someone for him to pick on. Alice is a little frustrated by you, but only because she can't see you in future events. She likes you personally. Carlisle is amused by you. He thinks it's funny that you can't remember him by anything else except Carl. Esme thinks you're sweet and a good match for Alicia. She's already imagining you as another son for the family. Jacob is…well…leery of you yet. He thinks you come off nice, but he's really scared Alicia's going to rip you apart. He knows if that ever happens, she'll be devastated and he's scared of losing her. Renesmee has much the same thoughts too, but she's not as suspicious as Jacob is. She hopes things work out and that you'll be a good addition to her own little part of the family."

I smirked and asked, "What about you?"

"As much as I don't care to admit it, I'm with Jacob on this one. You worry me, Owen, and I admit that I'm suspicious of you. So far, you've proven to be a good friend to Alicia and Emmett, and for that I'm grateful. I think you're a good man, but I need time to learn to trust you."

"Fair enough, believe it or not, I really do understand why you feel this way, and I want to earn your trust some day." I said, climbing into the car and starting it up. Edward closed the door for me, and I began backing out of the driveway, before slamming the breaks. "OH, HEY, WHAT ABOUT BELLA???" I shouted to him.

"I don't know! She has her mental shield up right now, I can't read her thoughts!" He called back to me. I laughed and shook my head at all this craziness. Waving goodbye, I took off down the road and headed back home.

The night sky was already starting to lighten as dawn came on. I'd already eaten supper while at the Cullen house, Rosalie and Alicia had fixed something while Emmett was telling me stories, so I curled up in bed after changing into some sweats and a sweat shirt, closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

What I saw in my dreams was…disturbing. I was wandering a vast wasteland, where no feelings of joy or happiness could be felt. I know that's a strange way to describe a place, but that's how it felt. On either side of me were huge ominous mountains, lit up on occasion by a crack of dazzling orange and red lightning. The ground was orange and yellow like a barren wasteland. The sky was black with a tinge of blood red. I stared ahead, and saw the absolute biggest man I'd ever seen in my life! He had to have stood at least 400 feet tall, with impressive bulging muscles everywhere. He wore little clothing, only a white tattered loincloth of linen, black metal bracers, a black helmet like those worn by ancient Sparta warriors in Greece, and sandals on his feet. Strong winds blew about him, whipping his long metallic silver colored hair all about his head. He was hauntingly beautiful, far better looking than even my vampire friends, yet his strange exotic looks both awed and terrified me. In his right hand, he held a sickle…a dangerous curved weapon, and this one was so humongous, it looked like he could easily cleave a mountain in two with it. He watched me with piercing sky blue eyes which flashed with lightning, and though he did not move or make any sound, I could feel that he was beckoning me to come forward.  
"So you are the youngest…the last of the human line I created?" He sneered. His voice seemed to shake the entire world I was on, and lightning bolts struck with every word. "Come child, let us speak of your heritage…" but his disturbing joy soon turned to vicious rage and he began rushing towards me, bellowing and screaming. "NO! YOU CAN NOT TOUCH HIM! I NEED HIM!" The entire sky became like fire, the giant's feet left enormous craters in the ground as he ran, and the entire world seemed to crumble apart from the impact of each step.

Something grabbed me from behind. My skin went numb and I was freezing cold. I was then forced around, to stare at my attacker. It was Royce King. He was different from the first time I saw him. His skin was now black like coal, and two tiny red glowing pin points burned in his eyes. King moved like some sort of abysmal black river, given human form. His eyes shot up at the giant, then back to me. "I can not find her, but you have that foul bitch's stench all around you! I knew the freak you had in my offices would lead you to that whore, but you fucking vanished on me! Where is she? Where is that murderous hag?" The giant was upon us, and his mighty fingers were already reaching down to engulf us both. "You idiot!" Royce yelled up at him, as he pulled me quickly out of the giant's reach. "Hector knew you'd try to contact Orious through the dreamscape but neither of us thought it would take you this long! What's wrong, did the fat fool just not fall asleep?"

The giant roared with fury at the insults and lifted his sickle. "Stupid ignorant wraith! I'll see you sent back to hell for this!"

I dropped to my knees and screamed, covering my face, as I felt the winds bellow up around me as the sickle flew down faster and faster.

Royce cackled and shook his head, unafraid of the huge weapon. "No you won't, titan! He's already waking up…"

My eyes burst open and I sprung out of bed. Sweat poured down my body, and I quickly checked the time. 9:00 AM. I jumped out of bed, and leaned on my night table for support, gasping all the while. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop shaking. I stumbled into the shower, and quickly turned it on to nearly the hottest setting. The water flowed over me…like rain…easing my tense body and cleaning away the fear of my nightmare. What a nightmare, I'd only gotten a few hours of sleep, but I sure as hell wasn't going back to bed again! I dried myself off, dressed, and turned on the television, hoping that the noise would help me get my mind off of my dream. I was flipping through the channels, not particularly interested in anything that was on, when I came to a news report.

"And yesterday's lotto winning lotto number has still not been claimed. That number was 08916001…" I clamored to my feet and rushed for my jeans pocket, grabbing out the lottery ticket Alice had given me just yesterday. "…that number again, was 08916001…" she repeated. I stared down at my ticket, my mouth agape as I looked on at the matching numbers. FUCK YEAH!! I FUCKING WON THIS SON OF A BITCH! OH HELL YEAH! I screamed and laughed and pranced around the room, even doing the Hulk dance at my victory. Rushing to the phone, I called in the number and memorized what I was supposed to do to collect my winnings! It was 9:30 as I headed out. It was time to celebrate! The first thing I was going to do was get a nice car and return that rental! The next thing I was going to do was buy a nice gift for Alicia…I stopped and thought it over…everything was happening just as Alice predicted. I laughed and laughed, heading out anyway, and speeding to the nearest car dealer I could find.

Moment's later, I was cruising the highways in my brand spanking new Honda CRV! By 11:00, I was in a jewelry store looking for something to buy for Alicia. I wanted to buy her something that would honor and symbolize her Native American ancestry. The lady behind the counter was really nice and showed me lots of different things, but nothing was really catching my eye until I saw a delicate looking silver and gold bracelet. It didn't have any Native American stuff on it, like I would have wanted…but it had an absolutely adorable little puppy with a big bow wrapped around its little neck. "Awww! Look at the pooper!" I gushed. "Pooper" was a word I used for puppies…and dogs in general ever since I was a little kid and couldn't pronounce the word. I have no idea why I still use it. I guess to just be annoying. "You just a poopin' poo!" I cooed to the little bracelet. "I'll take this one!" The lady laughed, rang up my merchandise, put it in a very beautiful box, and wrapped it in golden paper. I thanked her, paid, and headed over to the Cullen house hold.

Upon arriving, I could see movement in various windows of the house. I double checked the car to make sure I had a hat and umbrella in case it rained too hard, then I moved to open the door, but to my surprise it was already being held open by a grinning Alicia! "Oh! Ha ha, thanks sweetie!" I said, blushing, and squeezing out of the car. I held my gift for her, turning it over and over again in my hands, as I stared helplessly into her eyes. "I…uh…that is to say…I…um…got you something…" I stammered, feeling my body temperature rise and my heart slam in my chest.

"I have some…something for you too!" She squeaked, looking rather embarrassed. I blushed, and we both turned away from each other, giggling like dumb school children. "Here, you first…"

She handed me a bracelet! It was made of wood, string, and stone, but it was so beautiful! The wooden parts were carved to look like little russet and white wolves. The stones were painted white with grey highlights here and there to accent them. As I circled the bracelet over and over, the clouds were painted darker and darker, until the last was actually a storm cloud, complete with yellow little streaks of lightning painted on it. When I saw that, I flashed back to the leering giant with the lightning eyes from my nightmare.

"You don't like it." Alicia stated sadly after I hadn't spoken.

"What?? No no, that's not it at all! Alicia this is gorgeous! Where did you buy it?" I asked, putting the bracelet on my right wrist. I really meant it. Alicia's gift was beautiful! I actually thought my gift was kind of plain and dumb now.

"I didn't buy it, I made it myself." Alicia said, her eyes brightening as she smiled her infectious grin. "It's a promise bracelet, kind of something my tribe hands down to those we truly love…as a promise that we'll stay true to them forever. The wolf…is supposed to be me…" She looked away quickly, obviously embarrassed, "And the clouds are supposed to represent you because of how you smell. So what did you get for me?" She asked, already starting to tear open the paper. Now I felt twice as stupid. Alicia's gift was hand made, far more beautiful than what I'd gotten for her, and didn't have any significance beyond just being something cute. However, upon opening the box, Alicia began to laugh and squeal. "OHHHH!! Look at the cute little puppy! Oh Owen, you shouldn't have!! Awww, this is great!"

Alicia waved for me to come in, then she scampered inside and immediately started showing everyone what she'd been given. I had barely managed to get inside and give Esme, the first person I'd come to, a little hug, when Alice leaped over to me, picked me up, and danced with me like I were just a doll. She then put me down and gave me a huge kiss on the cheek.

"W…what brought this on??" I asked, flushing with embarrassment.

"I SAW YOU!! I FINALLY SAW YOU!!!" Alice cheered, picking me up again and whirling me around.

"Alice, careful! What's gotten into you?" Esme asked, holding out her arms to maybe catch me or something in case Alice let go.

"I saw Owen in a vision! Owen, how do you make a 4th level rogue??" She asked in her excitement, still confusing the hell out of Esme and me.

"4th level rogue?" I asked absently.

Alice sped away, then returned holding a book before I could even blink. "In my vision! You snapped your fingers, smiled at me, and told me to make a 4th level rogue! How do I make one?"

She was holding the Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook 3.5 edition. I turned red, and snatched it out of her hands. "Oh shit! Ha ha, that's not mine, I told Jasper…that's my friend's book…I don't know anything about this game…" Inside I felt dumber than a 2nd level barbarian with an intelligence of 3 taking on an ancient great wyrm red dragon with the monster of legend template. How could I have forgotten to take that, the Rock Band stuff, and my Hulk DVD back home? I am such an idiot.

Alice smiled and took the book back from me, then opened the front cover, pointing to my name, number, and old Ohio address written in black permanent marker. "Then what's this?" She asked slyly.

"Oh…ha ha ha! My old buddy, what a kidder, ha ha, putting my name in the book and all! What a wacky guy! It's all a mistake…the book ain't mine, Alice! Uh…are we ready to go yet?" Alice opened her mouth to argue some more, but Jacob and Alicia came in, Jacob pretending to admire the little trinket I bought for his young daughter. Honestly, I don't think he really cared. Thinking quickly, I grabbed my…err…my friend's book back from Alice and threw it back into the box with the Rock Band stuff.

"Hi Owen. Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Carlisle asked, appearing as well, decked out in a full baseball outfit.

The rest of the family made their appearances as well, and I could see they took this pretty seriously as they were all wearing similar outfits.

Emmett leapt into his huge truck, followed by Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice. The rest of us clamored into a van driven by Carlisle. It wasn't long before we arrived at a sort of custom made field far away from the prying eyes of society. As we waited for the storm to roll in, the Cullens started breaking up into two teams, with Edward as the captain of one, and Jacob as the captain of the other. Jacob pulled out a coin and tossed it into the air.

"Call it, Edward." He said.

"Tails."

Sure enough the coin landed on the ground tails up. "So Team Edward bats first?" I asked, wanting to make sure I was understand what was going on.

"No…Team Edward gets Alicia!" Edward said with a smirk.

"I take it that's a good thing?"

"Yep, Leech boy here's pretty much going to win this." Jacob groused.

"Fair is fair, Jacob! That was a random toss. You know I can't read how a coin toss is going to turn up!" Edward taunted, laughing as Alicia skipped happily onto his side of the field. After that, the game was on!

Edward's team was up to hit first. Carlisle was pitching, while Emmett, Renesmee, Jacob, and Rosalie played outfield. I was a bit surprised at how far the four of them stood back. I guess that's one of the benefits of vampire super strength. Carlisle smiled at Bella, who was up to bat, and threw the ball so hard and so fast at her, I though he was going to bean her. Instead she swung with amazing speed and strength, easily hitting the blurring ball, and knocking far into the outfield. I winced and covered my ears. "Now I see why you wait for a thunderstorm!" Laughed to Esme, who was acting as umpire. They'd asked me if I wanted to ump, but I declined…mostly because I barely know the rules to baseball. Heh heh.

Rosalie sped after Bella's ball, leaping nearly 20 feet in the air to catch it! "You're out!" She laughed, throwing the ball back to Carlisle. Bella was a good sport about it, and pointed her bat at Rosalie, making that "I'll get you next time" gesture to her. I wondered if there was an inside joke or something I wasn't getting. After Edward and Jasper were up…and both scored…I had to admit I was starting to get a little itch to join in.

"Hey…do you mind if I try one?" I asked. "It won't count or anything!"

Carlisle frowned, but then shrugged and nodded. "Sure, Owen. Come on up to plate."

To my annoyance, Renesmee, Jacob, Emmett, and Rosalie all moved in far closer than they had with Bella. "I don't think you all are close enough yet." I growled, swinging my bat threateningly. They just laughed it off, and prepared for my power. Just like Babe Ruth, I pointed high and far with the bat, to let these goofs know exactly where that ball was going…out of the park! Afterward, I took the bat and lightly tapped and bottoms of my shoes, to "remove the dirt" as I'd seen so many cocky players do in the old days of baseball. I took my stance. Carlisle looked me over, and nodded…then through a very gentle, very slow, underhanded pitch, as if throwing to a young child. How pathetic! I'd show these guys, what a human can do!

Swing and a miss.

Esme caught the ball and threw it back to Carlisle, who looked at me apologetically. "Whoa, wait a minute, time out!" Emmett shouted, running over and standing behind me. "Listen Owen, when he throws the ball, don't hold the bat so tight. Let it hang loose, and move your hands closer together, like this." He instructed, trying to help me.

"Heh, got it. I was just checking the wind resistance of the bat…" I said, though red with embarrassment. Emmett was right though, the bat did feel better in my grip. With his expert advice, Carlisle was mine! Emmett took his place, and again, the doc wound up and threw another gentle underhand pitch…it was time to knock one out of the ball park!

Swing and a miss.

"C'mon, Owen! Keep your eye on the ball!" Emmett advised from the outfield. I was pissed! I readied myself and nodded to Carlisle. I wasn't going to let that ball get passed me again! Of course, at that moment, it happened. My super man stuff started going nuts. At first I was looking Carlisle dead in the eye, then suddenly I was looking in the eye of some dumb deer that must have been miles and miles away. It was like the damn invisible man was standing in front of me, putting a pair of binoculars over my face again and again and again. Luckily, Carlisle could tell something was wrong, and he waited for me to regain composure. I frowned, shook it off, and nodded again to him. He smiled gently and let loose another easy pitch.

My muscles tensed, my teeth gnashed together, and I swung that damn bat as hard as I could.

Swing and a miss. I couldn't believe this, how embarrassing.

"Um…Owen, that's strike three. You're out." Esme said sadly.

I turned and glared at her, then I got right in her face. "OUT??? I CAN'T BE OUT! DIDN'T YOU SEE THOSE ILLEGAL PITCHES HE THREW? THAT LAST PITCH WAS WAY OVER MY HEAD! WHAT, YOU VAMPIRES HAVE YOUR OWN PRIVATE UNION OR SOMETHING??" I yelled.

"I'm sorry you couldn't hit the ball, Owen. But those pitches were perfectly fair, you had your three chances and you're out." She countered, narrowing her eyebrows angrily.

"I'LL SHOW YOU THREE CHANCES…" I screamed, and began sweeping the ground with my foot, "getting dust" on Esme's cleats.

Esme gasped and looked down at her cleats, then back up at me, still "kicking." She gritted her teeth and seemed to shake with rage. "THAT DOES IT MISTER! YOU…ARE…OUTTA HERE!!!" She yelled, making huge overly dramatic motions, and pointing to the benches where I was to be "grounded."

"You can't do this to me!" I whined. "I'm under contract! I'm one of the greatest pinch hitters in the league, I…"

"OUTTA HERE!" Esme yelled again, and again made huge overly dramatic motions towards the bench. I couldn't keep the act up anymore and started laughing my fool head off.

"I always wanted to do that." I chuckled, hugging her.

"They all do." Esme laughed, hugging back.

I took my place back on the bench…which was where I belonged, really, and sat back to watch the rest of the game. I passed Alicia on my way, choosing bats, and she kissed me on the cheek. "I've got your back, Owen." She purred, then tossing her bat nimbly in the air and catching it, she took her place at bat. Jacob, Renesmee, Emmett, and Rosalie all ran way back into the outfield, nearly disappearing into the forest. Carlisle tossed the ball into his glove a few times, and looked nervously at the very calm girl at home plate. His face became intense, I'd never seen him more serious. He wound up and threw the ball. The pure force he used was incredible, and if I'd thought the pitches were fast before, they were nothing compared to this. If Carlisle had hurt himself, throwing that, I wouldn't have been surprised.

I managed to see Alicia sneer for just a second, before she swung. BOOM!! Her bat smashed into the ball, sending it straight up into the air. The impact of the hit blew off Esme's hat and send her hair flying everywhere until she looked like some sort of wild mad woman. The loudness of the impact knocked me off the bench, and I stared straight up, watching the ball.

"A pop up?" I asked, coming over to Esme, as we both watched the ball soar higher and higher until it was out of site. "That's an easy out, right?"

Esme didn't answer at first, she just glared up after the ball.

"Uh…it's coming down, right?" I asked her, after the ball was absolutely gone.

"You think?" She commented.

Meanwhile Alicia was giggling and laughing as she slowly strutted to first base. "Ah! What a lovely day for a walk!" She snickered.

"C'mon honey! Don't be that way, no one likes bad sportsmanship…" Jacob told her sternly. However, Alicia giggled and started skipping to the next base.

"My, I liked first base so much, I think I'll try second base!" She chortled arrogantly. Both teams gathered around her, teasing and complaining to her as she rounded second base and slowly walked backwards towards third. I couldn't believe it…had she really just hit that baseball into orbit?? I looked up again, and saw nothing but grey skies. I watched the family laughing and jeering again…and decided I'd have a little fun of my own.

Sneaking over to a bucket full of spare balls, I grabbed one and threw it as high as I possibly could without anyone looking. "Oh, hey, there's Alicia's ball…I think I'll catch it…" I laughed, as I held my hand out for the ball.

"OWEN! YOU'RE KICKED BACK IN THE GAME!!" Esme blurted out when she heard and saw me. Alicia gasped and started sprinting for third, then for home…but it was too late. The ball landed gingerly into my glove.

"You're out, babe." I laughed. Alicia growled and rushed right at me, grabbing me and whirling me around even faster and easier than Alice had earlier that day.

"You little traitor!!" She chuckled. "Whose team are you playing for anyway? You batted for Edward's team but caught for Daddy's team. Which is it? Team Edward or team Jacob?"

"I'm on MY team, darling!" I cackled. "Team Owen!" Alicia put me down and we embraced in a warm hug, as the rest looked on with smiles on their faces. Without warning, Alice looked to suddenly drift off. Edward's head snapped towards her, and in seconds he was standing next to Alicia, with me at his back.

"They're coming!" He and Alice said together, and soon I found myself standing in a protective half circle of vampires (and one werewolf).

"Owen! Stand behind us…" Jacob whispered frantically, pointing directly behind him and Alicia. They were the tallest of the group, and I realized it was easiest to hide behind them. All of them then stood silently and stared off into the distance at the gloomy looking forest ahead. I saw Edward squeeze Bella's hand, and the young lady closed her eyes as though concentrating.

It didn't take me long to figure out what the fuss was about, as soon 4 human forms appeared, and came closer and closer. They were vampires. Each of them shared remarkable similarities to the Cullens, things I noticed right away. Their skin was pale, and each had small purple rings under their eyes. They were all remarkably beautiful, with one of them, the head male being the most striking of all. His hair was jet black, and slicked to the back of his head. His face was angular and there was a constant aura of power that seemed to radiate from him. He laughed in a very joyous manner and tossed a baseball up in the air as he talked on and on to a smirking blond haired lady.

I saw two things extremely strange about the approaching party. First, they were all wearing baseball uniforms of a professional quality. Little bat insignias were sewn into each outfit, obviously a mascot of some sort, much like the baseball teams of today. At least these vampires seemed to have a sense of humor. The second thing I noticed as a short and very young looking male vampire was carrying what seemed to be…a puppet? More disturbing was that the puppet was made to look exactly like the super hero, Wolverine, complete with mask and little Styrofoam claws. Instead of a traditional Wolverine super hero outfit, however, the puppet was dressed in a Dracula suit and cape. I did notice one other thing…their eyes weren't honey brown…they were blood red.

Jasper quietly told me of each one. "Ok, I know what you're thinking and I don't even have to be Edward to do so…the vampire with the puppet is Logan. He suffers from multi-personalities, which he exhibits through the puppet. He thinks he's a human thrall to the vampire puppet. Logan has a tendency to go into berserker rages. When he does, he's practically unstoppable. The tall muscular guy on the right of the leader…the one that kind of looks like Emmett, that's Felix. He was a powerful guardian back in Volterra, but Caius assigned him to be Jeremy's personal protector. He has absolutely no respect for human life, and it's arguable that he's as strong…or stronger than Emmett. The blond girl with the tight ponytail, that's Cassidy. She's an ex-military specialist and she's also a psychopath and sadist. She has the ability to instantly counter any fighting style. Despite her cruelty, the Volturi thought it fit to change her. The one in the lead is of course Jeremy. Just stay quiet and still, and we'll try to get you out of this. Bella's protecting our thoughts from him…as I have no doubt that he's already adopted all our powers." Jasper then straightened back up as the 4 new comers stood directly before us.

"Hello Carlisle!" Jeremy said in a very friendly manner, approaching the Cullen Patriarch and shaking his hand. "I was sure your family wouldn't be able to resist playing today, and after I heard that last boom…I knew I was right!"

"So you are. What brings you out here today, Jeremy?" Carlisle asked, smiling pleasantly, but Jeremy ignored him. He approached Alicia and took her hand carefully in his own. He held it up to his lips and kissed it ever so gently, his red eyes never leaving Alicia's face.

"Alicia!" He purred. "I'm so happy to see you again." _Cornball_. I thought to myself. Who the fuck opens with such a cheesy line? But Mr. Suave wasn't done yet. He softly sang to her. "_Night time sharpens…heightens each sensation. Darkness stirs, and wakes imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses…" _Phantom of the Opera? Odd choice, but I guess in a way not inappropriate. Alicia lowered her hand, her face unmoved. If anything, she was stiff and extremely uncomfortable with the way he touched her.

"So…Jeremy…I don't see Kai anywhere, why isn't she with you?" Emmett blurted out, trying to keep things light.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and sighed, as though answering this question was completely beneath him. "If you must know, we had something of a falling out. The girl actually had the gall to tell me she loved. Of course, I told her that only one girl holds my heart, only one girl I consider nearly my equal, so I left Kai alone in Volterra." He grinned at Alicia, and she flinched with discomfort.

"Hold up just one second, bub!" The Wolverine puppet suddenly snarled. "I think before we talk much more, an introduction is in order!" Logan, his keeper, stared at the puppet, gasping as though surprised by the thing's manner.

"C'mon, Wolvie! You know these guys…they're…uh…the Avengers!" Logan pointed at Carlisle. "That's Captain America." Then he pointed at Edward "And of course that's Iron Man." To Jasper and Alice, "Hawkeye and the Wasp." To Bella and Renesmee "The Scarlet Witch and Firestar." To Jacob and Alicia "Giant Man and She-Hulk." To Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme, "Hulk, Warbird, and Hellcat."

The Wolverine puppet looked at each person and nodded approvingly. "Bub, Bub, Bub, Jean, Jean, Jean, Bub, Jean, Bub, Jean, Jean…got it." He asserted. Logan chuckled nervously and gave Carlisle thumbs up. "Wait a minute…who's the fat guy in the back?" The puppet asked. Shit. And Cassidy was supposed to be the psycho?

"Fat guy…?" Jeremy repeated, coming out of his little daydreams no doubt of having Alicia in his bed.

The puppet growled at me. "I want answers, who are you?"

"Uh…Bub?" I responded, starting to sweat.

"RRARRGH! I KNOW THAT! WHAT'S YER NAME, BUB??" The puppet screamed.

"Heh heh…err…the mighty Thor, foolish one…" I squeaked, trying to sound as much like Thor as I could.

"YER NOT THOR!!! AAAARRRRRHHHHH! I'M GOING INTO A BERSERKER RAGE, BUB!" Wolverine bellowed, and Logan shook the puppet violently.

"Oh my God! Somebody please help me!" Logan shrieked, even as slobber and foam formed at his mouth. In an instant Felix and Cassidy grabbed him, while Alicia, Emmett, and Edward crouched into a battle position, hissing and snarling at the whack-job. Felix ripped the puppet from Logan's grasp and tossed him to the side. Immediately, Logan calmed down, as though nothing had been wrong at all. "Whew, thanks guys!" He laughed, waltzing over to the fallen puppet and picking it back up.

"Idiot. Why do we keep him around? He's a constant threat to our security!" Felix snarled.

"Because _**I**_ say so…" Jeremy spat…but it was obvious he wasn't concerned about the near violent outbreak. No, his eyes were fully on the fat guy. Seeing the danger, Alicia reached back and gently pushed me more squarely behind her. Not the smartest thing to do…Jeremy's eyes narrowed with obvious anger when he saw this. The oncoming storm blew behind me, sending my scent right to him. He inhaled, and the anger in his eyes soon became a mix of both rage and confusion. Then he looked back at Carlisle. "What is this, Cullen? Starting a farm or something? What's with that fat pig you're trying to hide?"

Alicia's eyes turned pure black, and she let loose an unnatural deep growl. Jeremy gasped…this must have been the first time he'd ever seen her react that way…and he actually took a few steps backward.

"Him? Oh, that's just Owen Black. He's my cousin from Ohio. My dad let him in on the family secret…even though he's not a werewolf himself. Alicia and Renesmee really like him, so we invited him out here with us today." Jacob lied. It would have been pretty convincing…except for the fact that I wasn't a Native American, nor did I have any Native blood at all.

"Hello there!" I said, peeking from behind the giant man and his equally giant daughter. Something touched me on the back, and I whirled about to see the puppet guy staring right at me! How the hell did he get back there without anyone seeing him?

"Psstt…listen…you have to help me!" He squeaked, leaning in real close to me. "I don't think these guys are super heroes at all." He motioned around with his red eyes. "I think they're vampires." He whispered.

In a flash, he grabbed the Wolverine puppet's arm, and held the Styrofoam claws up to his own neck. "That's enough out of you, Bub! I got adamantium bones, don't push yer luck!" It said, berating him.

"Yes sir! I'm sorry, Mr. Wolverine, please don't hurt me!" Logan blubbered. Jacob whirled around, just as Alicia picked me up and moved me out of the way. He grabbed Logan and actually hurled him over the heads of the rest of the family. Amazingly, Felix stepped forward and caught him with one hand. Logan snickered, and flipped Jacob off. Jacob began to step forward, just as Felix motioned him to come on, but he was stopped by Edward.

"Enough!" Jeremy yelled at his friends. "Carlisle, you know it's against the rules to allow humans in on our secret, even ones with close family ties! What do you plan on doing about this? How are you going to keep this bloated hog from telling the world about us the second he returns home?"

"We trust him." Carlisle simply responded. Alicia still hovered over me, hugging me protectively, while glaring at the four. Jeremy really didn't like this, and I could see his fist clenched tightly. Felix touched his shoulder.

"Not here, not now. They have numbers."

Jeremy sighed and spoke with slow, but boiling rage. "I'll call my father, and let him know of this development. We'll see how he feels about the situation." With that, the four turned and left.

**Chapter 7: The Song of Cronus**

_Alexander the Great!_

_His name strikes fear into hearts of men!_

_Alexander the Great!_

_Became a god amongst mortal men!_

Alexander the Great

Iron Maiden, 1986

The mood was very somber as we turned and trudged back to the vehicles. Rain had started to pour, and it fell hard upon us. The entire time Edward was silently cursing under his breath. "I knew it! I knew it wasn't a good idea to come here…damn…" When we reached the cars, Edward stopped Alicia and me from getting back into Carlisle's van. "Owen, I want you and Alicia ride back home with Emmett. I need to talk to Alice and see if we can keep tabs on what Jeremy's going to do." Not wanting to argue, the two of us headed to Emmett's truck, while Jasper and Alice went with the others.

Alicia climbed in, and I had my foot up on the step, when I again (sigh) turned into Super Owen. I could clearly hear talking, far off into the woods.

"So, we're contacting Caius?"

"I'll contact my father; you get in touch with Jane."

"Alright, you think they're up to something?"

"That Navajo was lying through his teeth." Now I recognized who was talking…it was Jeremy…but what was he talking about? Navajo? Jacob was Quileute not…oh…wait…now I get the sarcasm. "Nava-ho." Like a whore. Ha ha, funny fucker. "If that greasy slob was his cousin, why did they go through all the trouble to protect themselves? Bella had her little shield up…I copied it and followed suit…but I couldn't use Eddy's power to read any of their minds. We're going to gather the Volturi's most dangerous members. If the Cullens won't tell us the truth, they'll face annihilation."

"Owen…care to get out of the rain?" Rosalie asked me.

"Shhh…hold up…" I whispered, as though Jeremy and his pals could hear us.

"Lemme ask you a question, bub. Did you smell that guy that was with 'em? Didn't smell like anything I ever encountered before…I think we shoulda gutted 'em while we had the chance…"

"B…b…b…but Mr. Wolverine! We can't just attack innocent people, I mean; we're the X-men, the good guys, right?"

"Wrong, Logan, you scrawny panty waist! WE'RE the X-men…yer just along for the ride…"

"Logan…Wolverine…oh, who ever he is…has a point Jeremy! I smelled that guy that was with them…and all I could smell was more storms…"

"Owen? The rain?" Rosalie asked again.

"In a minute!" I cried, even as the heavy water beat down on my head.

Jeremy's voice spoke again. "I don't care what he smelled like…you saw how he cowered behind the Cullens, Cassidy! You saw the way Alicia hovered over him…the way she…she held him!! Unless that family is even sicker than my father dreamed of…that man was no relative…he was her lover! I'll kill him for that…no one, not vampire, not werewolf, and not fat ass human steals from ME!" It sounded like Jeremy was getting pretty pissed off.

"We can't just kill off an entire family just because one of our own has a broken heart, Jeremy." Felix stated. "No matter how much I'd enjoy getting them out of our hair once and for all."

"You let my father and I worry about why we're destroying the Cullens. Just know that we're doing it…tonight…"

"Owen, get in the truck, now." It was Edward, calling out to me from the van. I sighed a bit miffed that I couldn't eaves drop anymore, and ducked my way into the truck. Rosalie had put towels down on the seats, so that we wouldn't get the truck wet. Alicia was already drying off with a different towel, and Rosalie had a third one ready for me. I took my seat, and reached for the towel…but she wouldn't let it go…she only sat there, gaping at me with confusion.

"You're…you're not even wet!" She gasped.

I looked at myself, confused. Everything was dry, my clothes, my skin, and my hair! I'd stood out there for several minutes…I felt the down pour splash against me…yet I sat there completely dry as though it had just been another sunny day! More confusing was, even if I suddenly had off again on again super hearing, how was I able to hear Jeremy's conversation through all the pounding rain?

"How? How are you not soaked to the bone??" Alicia asked me.

"I don't…don't know…" I squeaked, more confounded than ever before. I straightened up just then…I could hear Jeremy again.

"NO BODY STEALS FROM ME! ALICIA IS MINE YOU DISGUSTING WORTHLESS HOG! DO YOU HEAR ME? ALICIA IS **MINE**!!!" He screamed against the rain.

"I hear you…" I whispered.

The truck pushed through the heavy falling rain, as Alicia and I sat in silence. Emmett and Rosalie were both on cell phones. I was amazed that Emmett was able to see and steer his way through the weather, as his wipers on the fastest setting couldn't clear enough water away. It seemed that he and Rosalie were having some sort of a meeting or something with the others. Every now and then both of them would make some comment or say something that made little to no sense. I guess the youngest and the human were not allowed in on such important conversations.

I was startled to feel Alicia's finger tips touch my hand. I glanced over at her, and saw that she was absent mindedly stroking my hand, her mind else where. I wrapped my fingers around her own, and held her hand. My lack of sleep became apparent, and I closed my eyes, hoping to maybe get a small nap in before we came to a stop. I just started to drift, when I saw the face of the giant from my last dream. His lips mouthed my name, but no sound was heard. My eyes opened again, and I trembled from the memory.

Alicia gently pulled me closer, and laid my head on her chest. She stroked my hair over and over again, whispering "Its ok, Owen, I'm here. You don't have to be afraid."

Emmett yelled into his phone. I didn't understand what he was saying…he seemed to be speaking a different language, but it was obvious that he was angry. Rosalie said something to him, in the same tongue, either admonishing him or telling him to calm down. Emmett's eyes were black, and his teeth clenched. I looked over at Alicia and shrugged.

"They're speaking in Japanese. I can only understand a word here and there, as I haven't quite started studying that language yet. I think Emmett wants to fight Jeremy, but the others aren't sure if that's a good idea."

Emmett shot a look back at us. He wasn't angry…at us at least…and he touched his nose while looking at Alicia. "Right on the nosey" I could guess he was saying.

"How do you feel about that?" I asked her.

"I like the idea." She said, surprising me with her coldness.

"REALLY?? B…but…"

"But why? Owen, you don't understand. The bond we share is all consuming. I could never have feelings for anyone else except you. Once upon a time, Jeremy was like a prince in shining armor to me…but not anymore. He doesn't care about anything but himself and his power. If I ever married him, I wouldn't be a beloved wife; I'd just be a trophy and symbol of his power. It's not like that with you, I can tell." Alicia held up her wrist to me, showing off the bracelet I bought for her. "You really do care. I know already that you love me as much as I love you, and you want to be my friend and confidant. I only wish you'd let the family change you so that we could be…closer…"

"They don't seem really keen on the idea, hon." I told her. "Besides, I already told you, that's just not what I want."

"I know…but I can't help it…it's what I want." She whispered.

I have to admit, I felt guilty. Was I being too selfish? From what I understood about this imprinting thing, nature was making Alicia into my perfect partner. Would she never be allowed to voice her opinions or have wants and desires of her own? Was she forced to always have to obey me? I didn't want that…I didn't want to see her become a slave, not to Jeremy and not to me. Love had already found its way into our hearts, if marriage would come for us some day, we would stand together as husband and wife…as equals. I wrapped my arm around her, and drew her close, then sat in silence for the rest of the trip back to the house.

The living room of the Cullen house was solemn and actually rather gloomy now. Only last night it had been filled with laughter and Lou Ferrigno. Now the family just sat and quietly discussed what was to be done about this situation. They talked of what Jeremy might do, the Volturi, what should be done to protect me, calling the Quileute tribe to help, and the dangers that they would face.

"I have a plan. Some of the pack, Bella, Rosalie, Alicia, Renesmee, and Esme will stay behind here and keep Owen safe, just in case Jeremy sends someone to take him out. The rest of us will lure him into the mountains near the baseball field and try to talk some sense into him, or, if worse comes to worse…" Jacob was saying.

"Jacob…we can't even think about trying to stay and fight." Alice responded. "Things are different this time around…there are no witnesses to help with our innocence…no love sick nobleman to save our hides. If we don't flee, then all our lives are forfeit."

"What's the point of that? They have Demetri, and if Jeremy copies his power too…then they'll have two trackers to hunt us down one by one and do us in anyway! With the Sam's help and the rest of the pack, if we stay and fight, we'll have numbers on our side!" Jacob countered back.

"This isn't like the time with Renesmee, Jacob! We don't have the help of the other covens, and for all intents and purposes, the Volturi's power has doubled!" Alice argued right back.

"Then let's get the other covens! Let's find all the help we can and try our best to even the odds!"

"There's no time for that!"

"Let's make phone calls, do whatever we have to do! We can't sit here and allow the Volturi to walk all over us, Alice!"

Bella screamed out in frustrated, angry with the entire conversation. "Why are we even worrying about this? Aro and Marcus won't allow us to be wiped out, we haven't done anything wrong! Jeremy is just jealous, and if we tell them that, they'll go away!"

Edward wrapped his arms around her, and wept into his shoulder, although no tears fell. "My love, I'm sorry…you know that we've become too powerful in their eyes. The Volturi are jealous of us, they gladly except any excuse to do away with us, even one as weak as letting Owen in on our existence without the intention of changing or killing him. If Jeremy wants us dead, Caius will do everything in his power to make it so, and I doubt it will take much to convince Aro or Marcus that destroying us is in their best interest." He told her.

"Edward," she whimpered. "You mean to say that everything we've been through, all the happiness we've built for ourselves, it's all over, just because Alicia imprinted? We weren't even planning on being in Forks for more than a few days if not for Owen!"

Something just came over me. I was suddenly very tired; my eyes drooped and soon closed. Everyone's voice started to sound far off into the distance…when I jerked myself back awake.

"Owen, why don't you lay down for a few minutes?" Esme asked when she saw me stumble from my reawakening.

Alicia rushed towards me and practically carried me over to the couch. "You didn't get any sleep! You're exhausted!" She cried. As she hovered over me, I looked into her face, and accidentally let out a gasp. Two small tears had fallen down her cheeks. Her heritage was mixed enough…she could cry. I reached for her face weakly. My hand and arm felt like it weighed hundreds of pounds, as I became more exhausted by the second. Gently, my thumb wiped away a tear, and after doing so, my hand uncontrollably clinched into a shaking fist. Alicia was in pain, enough pain to cause her to actually she tears, and I felt that it was my fault. At that moment, I hated Jeremy for the trouble he caused. At that moment, I wanted to punish him.

"I'm…fine." I said wearily, fighting sleep as hard as I could.

"Let's just all calm down, and think about all this and what we're going to do." Emmett said after a length of silence. In moments he rushed out the door, and came right back bringing in piles of wood for making a fire in the fireplace. He wasn't making my battle against sleep any easier. Bella cuddled with Edward, watching Emmett quietly, when Edward, sitting at the piano, began playing a very soft and slow song. She perked up a tiny bit and smiled, looking at him lovingly as he made the music.

Alicia cuddled me, seeming to imitate what she'd seen her grandma do, but looked over at her grandpa as well. She was smiling and rubbing my forehead. "What…what is that?" I was barely able to ask.

"That's just grandma's lullaby." He responded, and began humming along. She rested me against her breasts and rocked me back and forth like I was some 5'8 giant baby. I muttered something unintelligible, one last ditch effort to keep from going out, but it was not enough. I sank into unconscious…and began to dream.

My eyes shot back open…but I wasn't in the Cullen's comfortable home any more, I was back at that barren wasteland. At first, I could only notice the vast red desert all around me, and the uncomfortable stone my head lay upon. It was then I noticed a pair of black and brown boots standing near my head, and I looked up without moving my head to see who owned them. Staring back down at me was a young boy, who looked no more than 15 or so. His pure white hair was long and thick, with two very pointy ears protruding from his head, giving him an elf-like appearance.

"Hello there!" He said in a cheerful manner, while extending a hand to help me up. "Welcome back to the dreamscape, I'm Puck by the way! MASTER! He's here again. I assure you, you won't be having any further unwanted guests!" He called out to someone I could not yet see.

I didn't have to look to know who he was talking to. It was the giant again, this time he was standing not far from where we were, his back to us and gazing out into the waste. He was as massive and powerful looking as ever. "Thank you, Puck. That will be all." He said in a quiet voice.

"Oh, please don't send me away, lord Cronus! I want to stay and see if this is really the one Gaia spoke about!"

"Very well, Puck, you may stay. You might yet prove useful." The giant responded. With that he turned around, smiling down at us. With a gesture of his hand, a throne of skulls and bones rose from the earth, big enough for him to sit upon. Once seated, he rested his chin upon his hand as though bored, and stared at me. "Welcome back to Tartarus, Owen Orious. I fear we have not been properly introduced. I am Cronus, king of the titans, and founder of your family line." He said with an arrogant smirk.

"Titans…Tartarus?" I said absently, confused. Being a fan of Thor comics, I'd been introduced to Norse mythology. The comic character's adventures lead me to other wonderful and interesting myths, such as those of the ancient Greeks. "But, there's no such thing…this is only a dream" I said to him. Cronus grinned wickedly and leaned forward in his chair.

"Oh, but of course vampires and werewolves being real doesn't surprise you at all? You'll find that many things in the mortal world are more than mere myth. You are only partially dreaming, boy. Where you are now is called the dreamscape, and it is the only way I was able to reach you."

"Ok…" I responded. "So…why did you then? Why did you decide to contact me? Who are you to me? Why could you only reach me in this dreamscape place?"

The giant's eyes flashed, and I backed away, intimidated. When I say "flashed" I'm being quite literal. Bolts of lightning occasionally streaked across his irises, and became greater and more common when he seemed angry…like now.

"YOUNG FOOL! Did you not hear my words? I am akin to being your father's father and beyond that! Have you not studied Greek mythology? Do you not remember that I am the father of Zeus and the son of Father Sky? Are you too stupid to remember that Zeus and his brothers poisoned me, defeated me in battle, and banished me to the lonely and horrible wastes of Tartarus? Do not be an idiot, Owen Orious, if you can help it!"

"First of all," I responded, with more than a little anger of my own. "My dad's side of the family is German, not Greek, and second…"

"Oh, I see." Cronus interrupted. "Of course, your father is German. And of course it's beyond the realm of possibility that his ancestors took a boat up the Adriatic Sea, then traveled further north into Germany. Such things can not happen. Humans after all, always stay in one spot and never move from one place to another."

The sarcasm wasn't lost on me. My heart slammed in my chest after thinking this through. This whole time…was I actually Greek?? Was that why my name was so odd? I wasn't finished yet though. I still had some ammo for this guy. "Ok…that makes sense…but I KNOW I never read about any god named Orious chumming around with Zeus and Apollo. How do you explain that, big boy?"

The giant covered his face with his hand and shook his head, as though embarrassed. "No. We shouldn't begin this way. My tale is a very lengthy one, but you must hear it."

"Oh oh oh oh oh!!! Cronus, can I tell it? Please? You know I love telling this story! Please Cronus, let me tell it! I'm really good at it, and really accurate, you know that! Please? Pretty please?" Puck exclaimed, bouncing up and down and waving his arms like he was a nerdy kid in high school who knew the answer to some dumb math question.

The giant smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course you may, Puck. Your version is always so…colorful."

Puck applauded and whirled around to face me. He threw up his arm, so that I was basically staring right at his palm. Without warning, it began to glow like a flashlight, brighter and brighter until it shot out at me like a laser beam, blinding me. Puck began his song, as the images he sang about appeared all around me, as though I were really there and really living through them. He did sing in English, nor in any language known to the human tongue, but somehow I was still able to understand his words. This is the song as best as I can translate.

"_Before the rise of man_

_There was born Gaia and __Ouranos._

_Together they gave birth to beings fantastic_

_The Gigantes, Cyclops, Hectonchires and the Titans!_

With these verses, I saw two more giants, one a female made completely of rock, water, and plants, while the other was made of clouds, lightning, and blue sky. Both had beauty beyond description. Behind them I saw more giants…or maybe I should call them monsters…appear. Giants like themselves, but each different. The Gigantes resembled your classic hideous giants from legend, like the one from Jack and the Beanstalk. The Cyclops were also giants, of course, but each only had one single eye in the middle of their faces. The Hectonchires made me physically shake with fear and disgust. They had 50 heads and 100 arms, and instead of feet and legs, they had enormous roots that pulled them along. To me, they looked like a horrible combination of human and tree. The Titans were like giant humans, except each of them was perfect and flawless. Of all of the children, the titans were obviously the favorites of Gaia and the most wondrous.

_Ouranos hated all of these, in berserk fury_

_Imprisoned their children._

_Gaia called forth her youngest to stop him_

_His name was Cronus._

_At the age of nineteen, he became the Titan king_

_And he swore to free the rest of Gaia's children._

The sky giant, whom I now knew was Ouranos argued with his wife, yelling and screaming about the others. He clawed and tore at his face, then looked up and I saw him sneer with the clever idea he had in his head. He threw their children into a dungeon deep in the bowls of Tartarus, and laughed as they struggled to get free…and hurt Gaia. However, the giantess had one son who escaped prison…Cronus, the one that was doing all this to me. She placed a crown upon his head, and I watched him take up a sickle and make a vow to free his brothers and sisters.

_He would easily beat the minions of Ouranos!_

_Lady Mona the fallen, defeated fled from Greece_

_Her children of living stone became Cronus's slaves._

This was interesting! Who ever this "Lady Mona" was, she was gorgeous, possibly even more beautiful than any of the Titans! She appeared like an Oriental woman, but with long fiery red hair down to her ankles. For whatever reason, she seemed to want to stop Cronus from freeing his family, and she confronted him on the field of battle with an army…an army which she had created from humans, an army…whose members drank the blood of other living things to survive. Was staring at the first vampires? Regardless, in the end it didn't matter. Cronus and his siblings smashed and scattered all of them, with all of the survivors actually pledging allegiance to the titans!

_The City of Souls, where the spirit warriors dwell_

_Battled the titan king and were defeated as well._

Again, my curiosity was peaked. These "spirit warriors" somewhat resembled the Quilute tribe! But that was impossible, for none of them turned into werewolves or anything like that. It didn't matter. The titans were unstoppable, and the so called City of Souls was captured and enslaved along with the others.

_The cyclops, gigantes, and hectonchires he found_

_But lord Cronus would not free them._

_Dragons, fairies, orcs, and elves would all fall_

_All the while humanity cowered in their caves._

I was dumbfounded at seeing all these creatures! Dragons were always depicted as all powerful…but how easily they fell to these god-like beings. The elves, orcs, and fairies seemed competent, but it wasn't long before they were just slaves like the rest. For some reason, Cronus left humans alone…but why would he mess with them? These were cave men and cave women. They were barely better than wild apes. While Cronus marched on in his mad conquest, he only kept his fellow titans free, and allowed his other brothers and sisters to rot in their prison! A female Hectonchires managed to free herself, her husband, and what seemed to be their child…but Cronus attacked, killing her and the young one. The husband screamed, his rage and pain immanent, but he fled rather than be destroyed as well. I could feel his hatred and his desire for vengeance!

_Soon after that, he met Lady Mona again_

_And he crushed her again at the battle of Avalon._

Again I saw this Lady Mona person confront Cronus in battle, but she was different than before. Two red horns poked up from her hair, and she carried a variety of weapons, a pitch fork, a sword, and a whip all engulfed in flames. Two enormous bat-like wings extended from her back, and a long red tail which ended in a little clover-shaped point whipped back and forth between her and the titan. She fought like the mad devil she resembled. This time, she was on the defensive, fighting for two young people, a girl with striking red hair and green skin, and a boy with white hair and blue skin. The battle ended quickly, with two of Lady Mona's own "children of living stone" holding her arms, as Cronus back handed her again and again. I could see her weapons; the pitch fork was broken and useless, while the other two seemed in perfect condition. The children were unharmed and holding one another in horror as they watched, obviously now enslaved by Cronus.

_When at last, Cronus met Ouranos, the two fought hard_

_But Cronus once more was victorious._

_Ouranos was castrated, his testes thrown into the sea_

_And Cronus, his son, now ruled supreme!_

I watched Cronus confront his father at long last. It was giant against giant…but one had a weapon and the other did not. Cronus struck Ouranos again and again, until…well, until he cut off his penis and threw it away. He screamed his triumph at the night sky, as his slaves and army gathered all around him, crying out in victory.

_In the eyes of his mother, Cronus had gone too far._

_She revealed to him his dire future._

_One of his children with Rhea his wife_

_Would rise up and overthrow him._

_Cronus then saw the symbols of the future's great religions._

_His holy symbol was not among them._

_However, Cronus formed a plan_

_And a human woman bore him a child._

_He allowed her to give his son a name_

_The woman named him Orious._

_Cronus would have his heir._

When Cronus saw his future, the overthrowing did bother him greatly. But I'd never seen such pain on a man's face, when he realized that in time, no one would even remember or worship him. Cronus…all the titans…could shrink, could take other forms. I saw the titan standing at the mouth of a gaping cave, until a meek little cave woman appeared from within. In her arms, she held a new born baby, wrapped in skins. What little hair the baby had was metallic silver…like his father.

_Cronus became obsessed, determined was he_

_To protect this tiny baby._

_When his true wife Rhea gave birth, he consumed that child_

_And one to follow._

_In her grief and rage, Rhea turned to Gaia, begging her to save_

_The last son…and so Cronus was deceived and Rhea gave birth to Zeus._

_Zeus freed the Gigantes, Cyclops, and Hectonchires._

_With these as his allies he confronted his father,_

_And soon even his brothers and sisters were free!_

_Cronus called his titans, but they would not come_

_For they could not bear to fight and kill their own._

_So Cronus fought alone._

Zeus had quite an army, while Cronus had no one. It seemed that Zeus tried at first to talk Cronus down…maybe get him to surrender, but the king wouldn't have that. He charged, and I saw him crash into one of the Hectonchires…the same one whose family had been slaughtered by Cronus. The titan reached up and ripped off the left ear of the monster's main head. He raised his sickle to finish the job he began, but a lightening bolt shaped spear blocked him. The young metallic silver haired youth holding the spear, drove Cronus back, where he was stabbed by another young man with greenish blue hair and holding a trident. Despite his injuries, Cronus held off a third boy, who used a simple sword, but wore a magical helmet. The four combatants fought for what seemed like forever, when Cronus, tired, injured, and weakened finally went down.

_Cronus was to banished to Tartarus, one of the layers of Hell._

_But Gaia showed some pity on her youngest son._

_She showed to him, the fate of Orious._

_He would live a mortal human's life and his genes would be passed on._

_But none would become gods like their ancestors._

_Until one who cuts the Wraith's web and reunites Cronus's army._

_He would take one of their own as his wife._

_Gaia showed Cronus his face and revealed his name._

_This man would be a god and king._

_His name is Owen._

The three youths held Cronus over a deep and dark pit, but the giantess Gaia stopped them from throwing him in right away. She reached out, and touched his forehead. Cronus saw his human born son, and I saw as timed seemed to streak by, showing each and every descendent of this man…until it came to one in particular. This last descendant, a powerful and handsome juggernaut of a man, turned and looked into my eyes. It was me.

I woke up. There was nothing but darkness all around me, and I could see nothing, feel nothing, except that I was lying in a bed. The ceiling lit up from flashes of lighting, but the lightning didn't come from the weather outside. The lightning was in my eyes.

**Chapter 8: Invincible**

_Nobody wants him_

_They just turn their heads_

_Nobody helps him_

_Now he has his revenge_

Iron man

Black Sabbath

1970

I rolled out of the bed, stumbling and bumbling in the darkness. Where was I? There was something familiar about my surroundings, but I still felt like I wasn't in the Cullen's house anymore. I looked up, and saw a colossal shape shift around. The thing looked like maybe a professional body builder or something, with huge round muscles lining its back and forming arms. "Jacob? Emmett?" I called out. The form was too huge to be anyone but either of those two.

The thing didn't answer, and I guessed immediately that it was one of Jeremy's pals, come to kill me off or something. I felt around, until I grabbed something hard and plastic…my Rock Band guitar? Rushing forward, I felt around all the walls, until I found a light switch.

"You've got big muscles and a little dick!" I snarled, wincing as the bright lights nearly blinded me. At least if this creature tore my head off, I got in a good insult before he killed me!

The man staring back at me was enormous, at least 7 feet in height, and completely naked. He definitely looked like he'd been on too many steroids or maybe spent too much time at the gym. His huge chest and abs formed a "v" like shape for his upper torso. His legs were like tree trunks, and his arms had to be 24 inches around or larger! Long silver metallic hair flowed down his back almost like a river, and I was awed at how impressive looking and handsome he was, especially striking were his blue eyes. He brandished a Rock Band guitar, holding it high over head, ready for the attack, but his square jaw dropped in shock and surprise as he looked back at me. He was a lot younger looking than I was, probably about 24 or something, he had that stupid look of confusion that young people always have. I couldn't help but notice that my insult had been ill chosen…he was…well endowed. That was a lucky thing too…because he was just a reflection. I was back at my apartment, and I was standing at the doorway of my own bathroom looking into the mirror. I looked closer at the man, and for whatever reason, an old favorite Queen song came into my head.

_There's no time for us  
There's no place for us  
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away  
from us  
Who wants to live forever__  
__Who wants to live forever?_

The man's lips mouthed the words with me as I sang them, but I heard only the sound of my own voice…which now sounded deep and magical, sounding nothing like the one I was used to

I stumbled back into the bedroom, my mind whirling with everything that was going on. It wasn't just a dream I'd had. The time was 9:00 in the evening…in a little over eight and a half hours I'd gone from everyone's favorite plump pal into a muscle bound super model. My body didn't have an ounce of fat at all, and even tiny little quirks like the way I walked and stood were corrected. I felt like a pencil drawing that had been erased and completely redrawn. I pumped my biceps, looked at them, and shook my head. It was nice being handsome, healthy, tall, and perfect, don't get me wrong…but I didn't deserve any of this. I had little self esteem before, but overall I was happy. Now I didn't know how to feel. One thing was bothering me though…why did the Cullens return me to my apartment? They even took the time to put away all my stuff for me…and we didn't even get a chance to play Rock Band together! A loud knock at the door woke me from my musings, and I quickly grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. They were way too huge now that I didn't have a giant gut to keep them on; even tightening them as much as possible did little good. Sighing, and holding them up with one hand, I rushed and answered the door.

I was met by an older Native American gentleman in a wheelchair. He cranked his neck to look up at me, with wide eyes, and a tiny "whoa!" escaped his lips.

I smiled and waved with my free hand. "Um…hello there." I said.

"Err, hey…" the wheel chaired man said. "Is…uh, Owen Orious here? I have a note I'm supposed to deliver to him."

"He's…not here right now, but I'll make sure I get the note to him." I offered, holding out my hand. The man smiled, unsure, but placed the note in my hand wheeled off, but not before taking one last intimidated look back at me. I felt bad he was uncomfortable, and that I lied to him, but now I was curious about this note. I closed the apartment door, and opened it while I sat down on the couch.

"Dear Owen,

After much debate, our family has decided to leave Forks for good. I am so sorry that it has to be this way, but where we go, you can not come. Jeremy and the Volturi are too dangerous; we risk your life every second that we hang around you. Jeremy is angry with us, not with you, so when we leave, he and his friends will follow and you will be safe. I doubt you will ever see us again, so we all wish you luck in your future. Alicia wants to take you with us, she loves you and none of this is her idea, so please don't blame her for it. We beg you to not try to follow or find us. I guess what has happened is a lot like an old Quileute tale.

Once, a young wolf fell in love with a raging storm. The wolf loved the way the wind blew in his coat, and how the rain kept him clean and happy. He chased the storm where ever it went, and came to believe that it truly loved him as well. As time went on, the storm only became stronger and fiercer, and one sad day, the wolf was battered by the winds and rain he loved so dearly. As the wolf lay there dying, the storm dissipated away, and the wolf died alone.

I'm sorry man; I hope you understand the meaning of this story, and that you know we all care for you very much. Good bye, be good to yourself.

Your friend, sincerely,

Jacob Black

The letter slipped out of my hand and fluttered to the ground as I sat there in disbelief. This…change…the so-called destiny…the heritage…nothing mattered now…it was all over. My one true love, my soul mate, was gone and I'd never get to see her again or even say goodbye. I wish I could say that I was a hard ass that I just went out and partied and laughed it off, but I didn't. I sat there on the couch, blubbering and sniveling. I looked up, and saw my reflection in the screen of the television. The handsome kid in the reflection stared back at me, his eyes pure grey and swirling like clouds as tears flowed freely down his cheeks. He looked so pathetic; I couldn't bear to see him like this. I closed my eyes, and concentrated hard, remembering that Cronus had demonstrated shape shifting powers. When I opened them again, the handsome man in the reflection was gone, replaced by the human blob I was so familiar with. Human blob? I'd let Jeremy's cruelty get to me…I'd never thought that about myself before. The apartment seemed to close in around me like a coffin as I sat there, feeling sorry for myself. I had to get out, I had to sort through all this madness that had changed my life forever and I had to get my mind off of losing my poor Alicia.

I left my apartment, hanging my head in shame while trying to hold back the uncontrollable sniffling that comes with hard crying. I thought about Jacob's story and how it pertained to me and Alicia. I guess he was saying Alicia was like the storm…wild, free, powerful, and dangerous. I was the wolf, mindlessly in love with something I could never have. It wasn't fair. I didn't want to end up like the wolf…dying all alone in some puddle of mud, while the one thing I love in all the world leaves me forever.

It was still sprinkling outside when I came to a tiny little café in town. The place was surprisingly still open, so I walked inside. I trudged over to a table, far away from everyone else, and tried to hold back from openly crying in public. I noticed the kids I'd met in Wal-mart playing Rock Band were there, laughing and joking with each other. I also saw a few drunks sipping at their drinks, a Native American girl and a cop eating steak and cherry cobbler, with them were the wheel chaired guy from earlier, and a young Native American couple. A waitress zig zagged here and there to take care of everyone. It wasn't long before she made her way over to my table.

"We're going to be closing in an hour; can I get you anything quick, sir?" She asked politely.

"Um…y…yes ma'am, please. May I have an appletini with extra sweet and sour mix?" I responded.

The waitress cracked a smile at my request and nodded. "Sure, I'll be back soon." Soon, I was drowning my sorrows in a nice big glass of sour appletini, and constantly thinking about what I was going to do now.

"You're new in town, aren't you?" the police man asked, looking up from his meal at me. I nodded my head, but said nothing. "Are you gonna be alright?" He asked, as I took a huge gulp of my drink and puckered my lips again.

"My…my girlfriend…h…had to leave me." I whimpered, taking yet another drink.

"Oh. Believe me, I understand how that is. I'm divorced myself. Sometimes you just have to let them go." He responded, looking off into the distance as though remembering times past. "So what happened?"

"Ex-boyfriend…she had to leave town because she was scared he was going to hurt me."

"I see. Sorry to hear that."

The wheel chaired man and the chief's date looked on, but the other guy that was with them stood up and marched over to us. His girl tried to stop him, but he wouldn't hear it. The guy was almost exactly like Jacob, huge and muscle bound. "So what are you gonna do about it, fat stuff? You're just going to sit here and drink until the pain is gone?" He snarled.

"Paul, you're only going to make things worse, go sit back down…" the chief warned.

"No, not until this guy hears what I have to say! So, her ex shows up, threatens to pound you, she leaves, and you're just going sit here and do nothing about it? Don't put up with that shit! Find this guy and kick his ass!"

"Paul, damn it!" the wheel chaired man yelled, trying to make his way over to us.

"You're sitting here, wallowing in your sorrows, while she gets further and further away! If you love this girl, fight for her, damn it! You're a big guy…who ever this ex-boyfriend of hers is, you can take him! Remember pal, never forget this…some things are worth fighting for! Now go out there and get your woman back!!" Paul yelled, pointing towards the door. He was right. My heart slammed in my chest as my temperature rose and I became angrier and angrier. The hand holding my drink squeezed into a furious fist, shattering the glass in my hand. He was right! I had the power now…I was the relative of a god-like being! I knew I wasn't dreaming…I'd seen myself shape shift…and now I knew I was strong as well. Little Jeremy would know what the fuck hit him. I'd been picked on all my life because of my weight…but more than one sorry ass bully walked away with a busted nose. I'd fought with my brothers constantly when I was young, and in my wild early 20's, I'd been in a good number of bar fights and brawls. I could take this punk…I could win!

I rose from the table, my eyes firmly set on Paul. Small lights appeared here and there on his face as my eyes flashed with lightning. Paul's face dropped from being the obnoxious tough guy to being the confused "oh shit what have I just done?" guy. I reached into my pocket, pulled out my wallet, and took out a huge wad of cash to pay for both the drink and the glass I'd broken. I turned then and stomped out of the café. Neither Paul, the police chief, nor the wheel chaired guy tried to stop me. The rain was picking up as I got into my car and started it off. I pulled out like a bat out of hell, and started heading towards the Cullen house. The last thing I heard was the wheel chaired man berate Paul.

"Paul, you idiot, I'm pretty sure that was Alicia's Owen!"

The rain picked up as I sped down the road. Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed, but I no longer knew if it came from the weather outside, or from within myself. When I arrived, the house was completely black on the inside. I parked the car, got out, and banged away on the front door, but no one answered. Peaking in, I saw the fireplace, still glowing very dim, but there was no furniture, art, nor anything else. I groaned and let out an anguished cry, but still rushed back to my car. The Cullens had too much of a head start on me. They could be anywhere by now. Washington was a big state, but they could very well be in Idaho or something for all I knew. I banged on my steering wheel, snarling with frustration, when I saw the forest ahead…the forest…the baseball field out even further, I was sure…I wondered if Jeremy and his buddies were still around there? I wondered if they knew the Cullens had left yet and were still planning an attack or something.

My mouth curled into a sneer as a diabolical planned began to take shape. Now that I was a god, I could hunt down Jeremy…attack him…maybe kill him if I wanted…then I could find my friends…find my Alicia! They'd cheer my heroism, gush over my new powers, and welcome me into their loving arms. They'd parade me on their shoulders and thank me for ending their awful troubles. I'd only ask one thing in return…that I'd be allowed to marry Jacob and Renesmee's daughter and we'd all live happily ever after as a great big family. I pulled out of the driveway and raced in the general direction of the forest and the baseball field.

The rain came down harder and harder, as the road climbed higher and higher into the mountains, and a wide ravine opened up on one side. Only the metal railing would have kept cars from crashing over the edge. I picked up speed, nearly flooring the gas. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly, that twice, I crushed parts of it to near dust. While I readjusted, I hit a deep puddle, and began to hydroplane back and forth across the road. In terror and anger, I slammed the break as hard as I could, but instead of stopping the car, I put a hole in the floor. The car whirled around, no longer in my control, until the front of the car hit the side of the mountain ledge that ran along with the road. I was jolted and knocked about inside, but remained completely unharmed. The airbags blasted me in the face and I roared in fury when the car came to a complete stop, smoke bellowing from the engine.

I turned the key again and again, but got nothing for my troubles. Lighting flashed all around me, and thunder crashed louder than ever, as I kicked my way out of the car and stomped towards the engine. It was a complete wreck. The hood was practically folded back upon itself, the grill was mangled and crushed, and the tires were now completely unaligned and wobbly looking. I wouldn't be getting my revenge…I wouldn't see my friends, my Alicia ever again…thunder boomed in my ears. Sweet lovable Owen was gone at that point. Lou Ferrigno seemed to have taken his place…and he was pissed.

I raised both fists, so blinded by my rage, and crashed them down on the hood of my wrecked, but brand new car. The front caved in and the metal groaned as it gave way. I stomped to the driver's side door, growing larger and larger until I was nearly 14 feet tall, and smashed my right arm through it, creating a huge gaping whole. When flashes of lightning illuminated the surrounding area, I could see my reflection…a horrifying mixture of the handsome giant and the average human, looking like something Jeff Goldblum's Fly character would have been buddies with. Then I raised my left fist, and brought it down on the roof, nearly cleaving the car in two. Rain fell like bullets, bouncing harmlessly off my invincible skin. The thunder roared and lightning flashed…the storm mocked the wolf, but it would mock no more! I shook my fist and roared at the weather. I heaved the CRV over my head and began crushing it into a ball of worthless scrap metal. Oil and gas drenched my arms. I launched the car far into the air, into the heart of the storm. It punctured a whole in the clouds before vanishing. I screamed at the top of my lungs until my voice was hoarse. I defied the storm.

I took long hard breaths, exhaling and inhaling loudly. I fought to regain control of myself, to calm this anger…unnatural anger that I had never known before. It was like there was someone else inside me…not exactly an alter ego or alternate personality, but a monster…a beast.

My head snapped up; I heard voices. My super hearing was working again…but now it worked when I wanted it too. I pinpointed where the sounds were coming from, and used my super sight as well, ripping my glasses off my face. It was him! Jeremy stalked through the woods, miles and miles away, cussing under his breath and leaning against a tree, his face a picture of frustration. I took off into the woods, running faster and faster, crushing anything that came beneath my feet.

In the blink of an eye, I was there, hiding in the darkness behind a tree as I watched Jeremy. The rain began to die down into a light drizzle, even as I pushed back the raging spirit that now dwelled within me. He paced back and forth, mumbling and muttering. I felt myself shrinking, until I was back to my normal 5'8, my form returning to it's normal human shape I breathed heavily some more, trying desperately to remain in control of my rage. Jeremy looked up, in my general direction. His eyes narrowed, and he took a step towards me.

"Who's there?" He asked angrily through gritted teeth.

"Me." I said softly, emerging from the trees. The only thing I had on was my badly torn and damaged sweat pants, which now just barely managed to keep me modest. Jeremy's face brightened, and he sneered at me as though my being there was some great thing.

"_Sir, this is indeed an unparalleled delight. I had rather hoped that you would come. And now, my wish comes true. You have truly made my night!_" He sang, yet another verse from Phantom of the Opera. "Just as I thought, you hadn't left…they were trying to bullshit their way out of trouble again!"

"What the hell are you talking about, numb nuts?" I snarled.

"Who do you think I'm talking about, dip shit?" He yelled. "It's the Cullens! They're down in a clearing not far from here fighting with Felix and the others! Soon as they're nice and softened up, I make my appearance and finish them off! I have ALL their powers you know, plus the all the powers from my own group…"

I managed a smirk, holding off my rage for a few seconds longer. In truth, I was pretty elated, the Cullens hadn't abandoned me; they were fighting to stay! They were fighting for me! "11 to 3? Not very good odds. By the time you get your ass down there, the Cullens will have kicked the shit out of your little pals."

"You actually think Carlisle would fight? And you think he'd risk Esme as well? Bella, Renesmee, and Rosalie don't know jack about fighting…so they aren't involved directly either. Sorry, 'Owie' but it's 6 on 8. Felix recruited some nomads before we confronted them. Jacob still has a little bit of bad blood with his tribe for marrying the half-breed. When I get down there, it will be 6 on 9. Not that any of it matters, I have you, and the game ends! I'll present you to the Cullens. They'll have a choice…Alicia dumps you and marries me, or I kill you. Alicia will have no choice, she'll choose to save you of course. She has too much of her grandmother in her to make any other decision. Don't worry though, I'm a man of my word. Once I have her, you'll be free to leave unharmed. Learn to be lonely, Owen!"

My eyes filling with lightning, creating little light dots all over Jeremy's face. "I'm going to kick your fucking ass!"

"Bull shit. You're a fat worthless pathetic human. What are you going to do? Sit on me? This isn't the movies, 'Owie.' There isn't going to be any gun-toting superman to come and save the day." He laughed. He shook his head and grinned at me. "I have to see it…I have to see how this all turns out, I have to see myself with Alicia!." Jeremy started to go into a trance. He was using the power he copied from Alice! His red eyes seemed to glaze over for a second as he stared into empty space and saw the future, but his look of triumph faded to a look of horror. I knew it was my time to strike. He had only just come out of his trance when I made my move. "There she is! She's with me…holding me…but…but…I'm hurt! I…I'm…I'm in great danger…" He whispered.

"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!" I hissed, grabbing his wrist tightly. Jeremy gasped painfully and instinctively looked down at his arm. I balled my fist, slamming him three times hard into his side. Jeremy shrieked at each one, and on the third I actually felt something inside of him crumble, a rib or two maybe? He was hard, a lot harder than he looked, and his skin was colder than ice.

"Y…you hurt me!" He cried, as he began to slump down. I grabbed hold of his shirt and kept from falling all the way, then I threw my fist into his fucking goddamn mouth. His jaw gave way immediately, dislocated. I let him fall down this time, and when he hit the ground I punted the son of a bitch like a football. The first tree he hit wasn't strong enough to stop his flight, and his body snapped it upon impact. The next tree was nice and thick, and when he crashed into it, he finally came to a stop. Jeremy lay seemingly lifeless on the ground, then he groaned, and began to claw his way back to his feet. I watched as his wounds began to heal before my eyes. I calmly walked over, picked him up by the collar of his shirt like I was Michael Keaton's Batman and held his face closely to my own so that he would hear everything I had to say.

"I want you to leave Alicia and her family alone. Leave Forks forever and never come back. Tell daddy dearest and all your little vampire friends about me. Tell them the Cullens are off limits from now on. Got that?" Jeremy was still shaking off the last bits of damage I'd done to him, but then he glared at me with alien-like black eyes. His face was bestial, frightening, and I watched as his hand flexed into a raging fist. In seemingly slow motion he ripped his own shirt off to get away from me, then swung wildly. I thought this was some sort of joke…he was moving so slowly…but his fist connected with my face, and I heard the ear splitting crack of the impact, as well as the snapping and breaking of knuckles on impenetrable flesh. The vampire howled in pain, and backed away, clutching his hand. I stood there for a brief moment, though I was completely unharmed, everything had changed. All his insults, all my humiliations and feelings of weakness and helplessness, the loss of Alicia, the loss of Emmett and his wonderful family…all these things paled in comparison to this…this act of defiance against my will! My vision went red. The beast awoke.

"You fucking no good piece of shit!" I howled, stomping towards him. Jeremy tried to take off, using his vampire speed, but I was faster. I was in front of him in an instant, and wailing on him with devastating lefts and rights. At the time, I'd never heard any noise like it before; of my fists bouncing off his head and face. It was like someone taking a solid steel ball and slamming it against a rock over and over again. I grabbed the boy by this neck, lifting him high into the air for a second or two, before spinning one hundred and eighty degrees and slamming his entire body into the earth. Slowly, I got back to my feet again, growling more like a beast than a man. The snarls didn't even sound like any beast I'd ever heard of, they reminded me of twisting metal and the crashing booms of an automobile accident.

His body jerked in agony, but he was healing…recovering again. Was this my fate? Was I to be beating the hell out of this punk for eternity? The longer we fought, I should have been calming down…realizing the futility of it all…becoming afraid. But I wasn't, the fact that my nemesis wouldn't stay down only pissed me off more. I had never been this angry, never been this out of control. I was frightened, what if I couldn't calm down? Worst of all, these thoughts and fears only infuriated me more, made me even angrier. The beast wouldn't allow me to calm down, feel fear, or even pity.

I grabbed Jeremy again and tossed him towards a large rock. He slammed into it, and bounced forward, but not before I was there, my right arm reared back. I screamed and let it fly. If Jeremy hadn't been a vampire…if his head hadn't been harder and stronger than the rock, he'd have been mush. Again and again I hit him, and more and more, his head created a deeper indent in the stone. Both eyes seemed to blacken, and his faced puffed up painfully. I snatched him up by the jaw, and squeezed until I could see his razor sharp, white gleaming teeth. Using my sledgehammer like fists and bashed him repeatedly, knocking out several teeth, and reducing others to dust. I picked him up and held him over my head, considering slamming him down…when a more sinister idea came to mind. Using my neck and shoulders as leverage, I began put pressure on him, to bend his body half. He let out a gargled scream, and I heard bones begin to pop and break.

Suddenly I whirled around, using all of my sense, and picked up the 8 other vampires coming at us, lead by Felix. They looked beaten and ragged from their fight with the Cullens. When Felix saw me…saw Jeremy, he picked up speed and began to out distance the others. Obviously they expected Jeremy to show up, and when he hadn't, they knew something was wrong. Jeremy's body bent further and further until *snap*; I broke him in two. I threw his pieces aside like yesterday's trash, and, letting out a bellow that seemed to shake the entire mountain, I charged forward.

All the others, save for Felix stopped, confused and afraid. Their victims normally tried to run away from them. I came upon Felix much faster than he expected, but angled myself so I wasn't running directly at him. My arm shot up, and my bicep clubbed him up side the face. He flipped over and fell to the ground. In a flash I was on him, grabbing the back of his shirt and pants. I pressed him over my head and slammed him down again, face first onto the ground. I stood up tall, raised my foot and sent it crashing into the back of Felix's skull, then ground his head into the mud as though I were putting out a cigarette. The others, despite their fear moved in for the attack, to help their fallen comrades. One lone vampire made his way towards us, only to be swatted away by a powerful left fist.

I left Felix lie, and sprinted towards the next incoming nomad. Ducking down, I grabbed her by the shins and with blinding speed hurled her over my head. The next one was on me, so I took a step forward and bashed him in the nose with my forearm. Something dropped onto my shoulders, and I let loose a roar of rage as I felt a foam claw and wooden puppet fist slap me in the face over and over again.

"Die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die!!!" Logan screeched as he attacked. I reached up and back towards him, and slammed my hands together…with his head in the middle. The monster I had become grinned as I felt pieces of skull and brain matter slime down my fingers.

"You first!" I heard myself roar.

Logan's headless body toppled to into the mud and laid there twitching and convulsing. I didn't have time to make my next move, as a flying kick nailed me in the face. I screamed with rage and lashed out with a wild right…but my newest foe managed to duck beneath it. As Emmett had told me before, Cassidy was ex-military. She was dressed in combat fatigues that were torn and shredded from battle. She laughed and cackled with glee as she whirled around my attacks, and hit me time and time again with her weapon…a glowing red fire poker. Under normal circumstances, I would have questioned why she was carrying such a thing, but the beast could care less. All he wanted to do was take away the weapon and punish her for her transgressions. Supposedly this bitch had the ability to adapt to and defeat any combat style, but her power seemed to fail her as she only just narrowly avoided my attacks and was constantly kept on her heels. Maybe it was because I was faster than she was…maybe it was because, like the Cullens, her powers didn't work on me, I will never know.

"First I'll put out the right eye…then the left!" She tittered, pointing the poker at me like a javelin and thrusting it at my face. My right arm shot up and caught the weapon…and immediately burst into fire! The oil…the gasoline…from the CRV! Cassidy never had a chance to react before the flames leapt from my arm and engulfed her. Her screamed filled the night air, over riding any other sound. The other vampires fled, each of them filled with terror. Bits of Cassidy melted away, landing on what was left over of Logan, and burning him away to nothingness. I tried to take control…tried to stop this. No matter what dark thoughts I had…I never really wanted to seriously hurt anyone…never wanted to kill anyone. I threw Cassidy down into a puddle and somehow tried to put her out. It was no use, my other arm caught fire and only made things worse. Soon I was laying alone in mud and ash…a sweet fragrance hanging in the air.

The beast was still there, still in control. Logan wasn't coming back, Cassidy wasn't coming back. Fire was the answer! I picked up the poker and quickly scanned the area for Jeremy. He was no where to be seen…only Felix and a few others. I ignored them, more determined to catch my enemy and make him pay. My senses kicked in…I caught the sweet scent all vampires had, I saw where someone had crawled through the grass away from the battle, I heard the gasps and frightened groans of a man in pain, I could taste the weird crap that oozed out of every wound inflicted, and I could feel that the end was near!

It wasn't hard to track him down, but it was surprising just how far he managed to go. He made it all the way back to the Cullen's house where he laid in the now empty living room, his eyes wide with terror as he saw me come with my new found weapon. He held up his hand, signaling for me to stop, and he said strange words like "stop, I surrender, she's yours, please, don't" and other things that were meaningless to me in my berserker rage.

My hand shot up at him, pointing threateningly, and I heard myself hiss out my feelings to the man. "You…abuse of power…ABUSE OF POWER! YOU! You're a monster…you're a liar…you are a no good son of a bitch…my God, I hate your fucking guts!" My hands tightened over the fire poker, and every muscle tensed in preparation for the sin I was about to commit.

I reared back with the poker, and slammed it into Jeremy's face, as he let out an ear splitting scream. Too much time had passed…the poker was glowing red, but he didn't catch fire. I roared, angrier than ever, and slammed the weapon down on the back of his head, and followed through with blow after blow on his face. The thing tore at him, ripping him and shredding his rock hard skin like butter. As I beat him again and again, something leaped onto my back, and placed a pair of cold hands over my eyes. I reached back, but was unable to grab hold of the annoying gnat that held onto me.

For the longest time, there was nothing but the red rage…but slowly images began to flicker in and out, I started to see other things. I saw Alicia with me…laughing and smiling…she seemed so happy! I saw her talking about how wonderful I was and how she hoped with all her heart that we could be together. The poker fell from my hands, and clattered noisily to the ground, but it didn't matter…I only wanted to see more of these beautiful visions. I saw her take her first walk, and I remembered how proud I was of her. I saw myself giving birth to her, as everyone watched with love in their eyes for both of us, Jacob leaning in to give me a kiss…saying "I love you…"

I snagged the hands that held me and yanked them off, looking back. It was Renesmee! My breathing was uneven, and I shook with fright at everything that had transpired…as I took back control from the beast. I stared into her frightened honey colored eyes. "L…little too much I…information…" I squeaked. She let out a sigh, and started to get down, when all hell broke loose. I was grabbed roughly by the wrist and yanked around, only to find myself staring into the black enraged eyes of Edward.

"Let her go, Owen." He warned. It looked to him that I had grabbed Renesmee, and that I meant to hurt her. My lips quivered as I tried to say something…tried to explain that I was back in control again…but Edward spoke again first. I know what he said was in the heat of the moment…his own fear of all that had happened and fear for the welfare of his daughter…that I was dangerous. Still, to this day, I really wish he had said something else. "Don't make me kill you, Owen."

I instantly released Renesmee and let her down from my back. "Daddy, no, I have things under control!!" She pleaded, but it was too late. Edward and I stalked each other, the beast had me again.

"Why don't you try it, you little fucking prick?" I snarled through gritted teeth. Edward braced himself and squatted down in a battle stance, his sharp white teeth gleaming. The rest of the family had managed to make it to the house, and Emmett carefully came forward, his hands spread out to try and keep up separated.

"Hey now, look guys…let's let cooler heads prevail now…we're all friends here!" He begged us.

I shot him a sinister smirk, though my eyes were still squarely on Edward. "You and I are friends, Emmett…but HE'S NOT!" With that, my arm shot out, and slammed into Edward's side. He couldn't read my thoughts, and so his effectiveness was greatly lessoned. He was barely able to let out a grunt, before his entire body went sailing out of the room. He crashed into the garage, slamming into a shiny silver Volvo. His stone like body obliterated it, tipping it over, and he spun around, until slamming into empty shelves that might have once held tools and car parts. I slammed my fists into my chest and let out a howl of victory! No one could stop me, no one could beat me, and I was invincible!

Something struck me from behind at that moment…stronger than anything else that had hit me that night. I staggered forward, and whirled around, only be hit again and again in the face. I was still not hurt, but the force of these blows was incredible, for every hit, I was forced to take a step backwards. Finally I'd had enough, and I caught the arms of my latest foe, and drove the person to their knees, ready to smash and kill again.

"Owen…Owen…you hit my grandpa!" She cried…it was Alicia.

Her honey brown eyes were dry, but I could see where tears desperately wanted to form and escape. I was breathing hard; my heart seemed to completely stop beating, as what I'd done dawned on me. Edward was groaning, and being helped back to his feet by Bella and Carlisle. Jasper, Alice, and Emmett were all in battle positions, each of them glaring right at me, save for Emmett, who looked so confused and afraid. Rosalie and Esme stood back, holding onto each other for comfort. A giant russet wolf stood by Renesmee's side, growling fiercely at me, but not yet making any move to attack. Even Felix and a few of the nomads had arrived, and stood side by side with the Cullens against me. Worst of all, Alicia was on her knees before me…one of my hands gripping her around the neck, and the other poised into a fist, raised the ready to strike. I lowered that hand…and looked at it, my head whirling with all the damage I caused…the feeling of dread that I'd let some unknown part of me loose to run amok and cause this damage. I remembered why I'd embraced my geek side and not allowed my old bar hopping self to ever emerge again. I wasn't the hero…I was the villain.

I released Alicia and backed off, letting her get back up to her feet. I shook all over, and I trembled with fear and shame. My lips quivered as I tried to speak…to say something…but nothing came out. Tears flowed freely down my face, and Alicia crept slowly forward, obviously wanting to comfort me, but still scared to make any sudden moves. I couldn't stand this…I couldn't let her close after the horrible things I'd done and nearly done. I dashed for the door, not even slowing down when Felix and Jasper tried to grab me.

"No, wait!" Alicia had exclaimed, but it was too late, I was out and running back towards town. They couldn't hope to catch me. The beast was still there, wanting to lash out again, but it wasn't the reason I returned to town. No, I figured it out at last. Two men were responsible for this, one of whom laid his hands on me and started this whole mess. I was going after them: Royce King and Hector Wulgar.

**Chapter 9: Broken and Bleeding**

Things had happened so quickly. It had been 9:00 in the evening when I first woke up, when I lived my first day as a titan. Now, after everything had happened in was only 10:45. I stood by the main street of Forks, looking up at the building that brought me here in the first place: "Wulgar Industries." The name alone brought a thousand questions to my head. Wulgar was the last name of Royce King's assistant/body guard…Hector. But it was obvious King himself was in charge of everything…so why did the company not bear his name?

The sign bearing the name of the company was white, with the letters in blue, underlined with a thick red line. Something had happened over the days since I'd left…perhaps damage from the storm, for the sign was nearly shorted out, except for a light or two where the red underline was. This seemed to encase the entire front of the building, and everything in front of it in red light. I stomped towards the entrance, my skin becoming as blood red as everything else. With a single kick, I smashed down the front door and made my way inside.

Nothing much had changed about the building…the smell of new carpet and paint still hung in the air, and everything was still red colored and ugly. Oddly, I took note that much of the furniture was missing, the place seemed abandoned, and I immediately got a feeling in my stomach that something wasn't entirely right here. Had the company moved or gone out of business already? I came to the same receptionist desk that I'd been to before, but everything…the computers, papers, and other things were gone. Behind the desk was Royce King's office. My eyebrows narrowed, as I slowly approached and turned the handle of the door.

To my amazement everything in the office before was still there now, including the man himself. All the black, white, and grey furnishings were immediately bathed in red light as I entered. Royce looked at me, nonchalantly, a huge cigar hung from his lips, and billows of smoke escaped from his mouth. He was dressed in the same cloths that he wore when I first met him. He didn't smile or say anything; he simply stared at me, while puffing on his cigar. After several seconds, it was I who broke the eerie silence.

"Alright you son of a bitch, I think you, me, and your sorry ass fucking body guard need to have a nice little chat. When I first came here, I was just another human being, trying to find my way in the world. Now a-day's I have super fucking strength, super fucking speed, and am fucking invincible. I think you two bastards can tell me why."

King took one more big long puff of his cigar, before pulling it out of his mouth, and smirking at me, blowing the smoke in my face. "Mr. Orious, can you even get through a single sentence without cursing up a storm? Yes, you are quite correct; Hector and I have a lot to do with your…present state. He said this would happen to you…the anger…berserker rage. All your kind goes through it at least once. Tell me though, did you kill her? Did you kill the blond?"

"Fuck you."

Royce sighed and stood up from behind his desk. "There you go with that potty mouth again. Just answer the question please, did you kill the blond or not?"

"Two people died, yes, maybe three. In a few moments the body count is going to rise to five when I'm done here." I snarled through gritted teeth.

Royce smiled and chuckled. "I'd really like to see you try that…" Before he could say anything more or make another move I was on top of him. Just like with Jeremy, I had no control over my actions. Jeremy had dared lay his hands on me…and Royce dared to challenge me! In less then a second I hurled his desk away from between us, and it crashed against a wall. My crushing hands grabbed for his arms…but I couldn't get a hold of him. I lashed out again, but I could only watch in horror as my fists went right through him! It was like I was trying to fight air. His body seemed like it was made of smoke, I would grab or make an attempt to hit him, and all I'd be able to do is get him to billow a little bit. His dark laughter filled the air. The rage build greater and greater as I tried everything to get him…but nothing worked. "Ha ha ha, having trouble are you, Mr. Orious?" King laughed, shaking his head, while puffing again on that fucking cigar as though he were just having the best time of his life.

I raised my fist again, determined to put a hole in his head, when a huge hand reached up and grabbed it, yanking my arm behind my back. I roared out in pain, as I was taken down to the floor, and sledgehammer-like blows struck me again and again. At last I managed to get away, or perhaps I was let go…and I looked to see who had attacked me. It was Hector…standing almost twice as tall as he had before. He was still ugly and bald…but now I could see, as he roared and growled at me, than his mouth was filled with piranha-like sharp teeth. No…not mouth…mouths. He had two heads…three…four…no…it seemed like new ones were sprouting up all over his body. I realized why he'd managed to hit me so many times…he had four gigantic muscular arms, with more tearing out from his body with every second. His legs grew longer and more flexible, until they resembled something akin to tree roots.

"NO! Not too large, Hector…We can't risk being exposed!" Royce screamed out, as he stepped aside for our confrontation.

"NEVER REFER TO ME BY THAT STUPID MORTAL NAME AGAIN!" Hector bellowed as he continued to shape shift. "My kind have no need for idiot names, we are what we are! I am Hectonchires!!" He was right! His transformation was complete, and he stood before me, whipping his 100 arms all about, as his 50 heads snapped and bit at me! He was a fucking horror beyond horrors! I recognized him immediately…it was the same one that had his family slaughtered by Cronus so many years ago.

Rolling to my feet, I raised my arms like a boxer, ready to fight it out with this thing. Before I could even make a move he was on me, drilling my face with right hook after right hook. His speed was uncanny, no matter how much of my new powers I tried to summon to match him, I was never able to. It's not like he was physically faster or stronger than I; he was just plain _better._ Every attempt at a punch was blocked and counter punched. Several times, the monster would grab me by my legs and arms, and hold me in the air, helpless while he bashed away at me, only to fling me head first into the ground like how a damn insane professional wrestler. One punch cut me just above the eye. Another shattered my front teeth. The environment had no effect on either of us…but this sinister monstrosity was more than powerful enough to hurt me. Twenty punches to each of my sides cracked and splintered my ribs. Blood, strangely colored blue blood, boiled up inside of me and ran down my mouth like a tiny thick river.

My fighting style became more reckless and uncontrolled…so desperate was the beast inside me to land just one hit. For Hector, that only meant I was even easier to block or evade. Worse, for every one missed swing or blocked kick, I was struck thirty different times from one angle, then fifty different times from another. My head throbbed with migraine like headaches from all the hits I took. My legs and arms were sore from being grabbed, twisted, and pulled. A branchy "foot" of the monster crushed me in the chest at one point, and I flew out of the building, colliding with a parked car. The monster never let up…he was on top of me immediately, opening the passenger car door, and slamming it closed against my head time and time again. At last, the Hectonchires stopped his assault…if momentarily. I willed my body to try and stand…to continue the fight, but it was useless, I could take no more, and crumbled into a heap on the hard concrete sidewalk. I was humiliated; tears and blood poured from me and formed a perfect round puddle all around me.

A huge hand engulfed my head, and I found myself pinned under one of Hector's smelly disgusting armpits. "It's time for this to end, boy." He stated darkly…and with a single twist, he snapped my neck and dropped me…leaving me lying in a strange and awkward position. The creature resumed his giant sized human form, but he cussed and cursed, kicking me again and again in the ribs. I groaned and gurgled at eat hit, but my body would not obey any of my commands.

"What is it? What's wrong? Kill him already!" Royce snarled from the doorway of the building.

"I can't! Damn you…Cronus got to him, he's immortal! Only adamant could kill him now!"

"Impossible! I stopped Cronus from activating his genes…woke the fool up! He can't be immortal now…I would have known if he'd fallen asleep again and would have stopped Cronus again!" Royce argued.

Hector exploded into a rage, grabbing me and throwing me at King. I went right through him…and through the walls of the building, my head snapping back, as my limbs flailed and flopped about. I screamed bloody murder, and lay there, sniffling in unimaginable pain. The giant stomped towards me again, and I cried out in terror as his hands wrapped around my broken neck and flung me once more. I crashed into the secretary desk outside of King's office. "You idiot!" He bellowed. "You should have allowed me to hunt and kill him immediately after Cronus contacted him the first time! My blasted brother was ready for you…and obviously planned in case you tried again. No doubt using that stupid little bastard Puck! With his magic, you didn't stand a chance of detecting this fool falling asleep again! Now we're dealing with a full titan…if young and untrained. Our only chance is to get rid of him until I can get my weapons from Hades to destroy him."

Royce calmly took out a thick cigar from his inner coat pocket, struck a match, lit it, and puffed on it deeply. "No need. He's a titan now, right? He's young and has no experience, right? That means he has no defense against my associates and I. Gentlemen!" Without warning four men appeared from the darkness…each grabbing one of my arms or legs. Their faces, skin, and clothes were grey and black just like Royce King's. Each was dressed as if they were attending a funeral. King approached and knelt down in front of me. He stared into my eyes, brazen enough to actually wipe some of the blood off of my face.

"Do you know what the worst part of being a titan is, Mr. Orious?" He asked, smiling. "Well…it's quite tragic really…you see, according to so many religions, humankind are the only creatures on Earth that have a soul. All your little friends you've met, he vampires and werewolves? They're nothing but walking husks, as are you. I, however, and my associates…" he gestured to the men around us. "We were human and are now nothing but souls. You see…one of your friends MURDERED us but our hatred and lust for revenge allowed us to remain here, instead of…how should I put this…crossing over. But, Mr. Orious, I'm not a ghost…not a spirit…oh no, I'm much worse. My associates and I…we are the most evil, the most powerful in the entire spirit world! We are wraiths!"

I glared at the foul man, not believing a word of it. He looked into my face again and a hideous laugh escaped his lips. He leaned in closer…and suddenly his face began to morph…like mist or smoke, until there was nothing but a black skull with red glowing pin-point lights in the hollow sockets. I screamed out in horror, and tried to struggle when he placed a cold black claw-like hand over my mouth.

"So hear we are, Mr. Orious, a soul without a body, and a body without a soul. Yes Owen, you don't have a soul anymore…it died when you were awakened by your ancestor. We should remedy that. When I merge with you, we'll be one…I'll be alive again, and you will have ceased to exist, sir. I'll have all the powers of a god and at last be able to avenge myself on the bitch that killed me."

Pain and fear racked my bludgeoned body and I was unable to answer. The skull-faced King roared with anger, and shoved two claw-like fingers into my eyes, and everything went cold and dark…with only the seething hatred of Royce's voice being heard.

"You sack of garbage! Because of my nature…because _**I**_ was the victim, I am forbidden from even speaking her name! But it doesn't matter, Mr. Orious. You time is over before it could even begin…my time is now! I shall have REVENGE!" The darkness became complete and I heard nothing more for a long while. Soon, there was light…light and a blue sky with beautiful white clouds all around me. I felt different, I felt completely human again. I stood up easily enough, in this strange realm, and looked all around me. Without warning, Royce was suddenly there, and he glared at me.

"So." He said at first. Then he scowled and shook his head angrily. "No matter, I know I can break you…I have been around much longer and have possessed far more people with stronger will than you…" He said suddenly. Royce charged towards me, hitting me straight in the face. It felt funny…like the punches I used to receive in my old days of bar hopping…but with a bone chilling cold following it. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew I had to fight back. I connected with a right cross to King, and his lip split open and black ooze poured from the wound. Furiously, he rebound and slammed into me, pushing me back, until I grappled his arms, and stopped his force. We stood there, deadlocked, groaning and grunting at each other. I had no idea why, but in this "test of strength" I felt there was something far more valuable at risk than a mere loss of a fight. Someone appeared behind Royce…I couldn't tell who…I was too busy struggling…but Royce was suddenly thrown backwards…and the strange cloud realm vanished.

I was back where I started, laying on the ground in Wulgar's, neck still broken, and pain racking my whole body. King seemed to have been knocked back away from me, he hissed and howled, even as the monstrous Hectonchires helped him back to his feet. King looked into his bodyguard's eyes, and his form seemed to be less substantial. "He…has…he…" but the wraith saw that I was listening in, and hissed. "I can't possess his body…how do we kill him?" Royce asked.

"The only way to kill one of the children of Gaia is to use adamant blessed by Gaia herself, or the Grand Architect…" Hector responded.

Royce shivered. "Grand Architect…God?" He asked. King said nothing, his look said it all. "So what do we do then?"

"I have flails, blessed by Gaia there were supposed to kill Cronus. I will retrieve them, and the boy will die. However, we can't risk dragging his worthless carcass all over the Earth while I search for my weapons. So we shall do the next best thing…banishment!"

Hector lumbered over, balled his fist, and leered down at me, before punching me in the head and I saw or heard no more.

When I awoke next, I felt as though I were riding the teacup ride at Disney World. I was spinning faster and faster. When my swollen eye managed to open at last, I saw the monstrous Hector clutching me be one arm and one leg, and spinning around. Suddenly he let go…and I was flying through the air, higher and higher. Was the creature throwing me into outer space? From what I gathered, I was immortal…nearly unkillable…but I shuddered to think about the damage a vacuum would do to me. The stars drew closer…closer…then further and further away…I was falling. I hit something hard…water I realized later…and suddenly all was black and cold. Unable to move, for Hector had made sure to break my neck again, I sank into the black abyss. I had nothing now…no family, no friends…and now…no soul.

**Interlude: Marcus**

For all intents and purposes, it was just another very boring day in my forever existence. I sat in the library of our castle home, rewriting a book I hadn't read in 800 years. I do that at times…rewriting books in my collection…to preserve them. Of course of the literally hundreds of thousands we owned, all of them were stored safely away, multiple times, on several different computers, but writing was something I enjoyed all the same. It took time, and time was all I had. In those days I was bored with life and living and supremely arrogant, as were my brothers, Caius and Aro. We had been around for over 3000 years and there was nothing that mortals did or said that could surprise us anymore.

It was on this day, that young Kai stumbled into the library. She was the newest acquisition of our coven…a girl that could see into the past and recall events as they happened. That was our hobby for the last few centuries…to convince vampires with special powers to join us. Aro and I possessed special abilities…Aro having the power to read all the thoughts of a person with but a touch, while I could sense the relationships of others. Along with our wives, we had become a force to be reckoned with, and many vampires flocked to our banner.

Kai startled when she saw me sitting there, she was not used to seeing me away from my brothers or our wives. "Oh! M…M…Marcus, forgive me, I did not think anyone was in here! I shall leave you a…alone." She squeaked speaking Italian with a thick Argentinean accent.

"It makes no difference child! Come in and do what you came for!" I sighed with irritation and beckoned her inside.

Kai managed an intimidated grin and tip toed inside. She was young, only about 16, and had not been a vampire for even a year yet, but still she was as quick, agile, and graceful as any of our kind. "I won't make any noise…I wanted to practice using my powers. Jeremy…he's been gone for so long…I wanted to see him again." Kai looked away, shy and ashamed. She'd fallen for the boy the moment she'd laid eyes on him, but of course Jeremy was too obsessed with the freak the Cullens had created.

Jeremy was a phenomenon. He was the most powerful of any vampire ever created, and Caius's pride and joy. Jeremy loved our coven. He was absolutely loyal and immediately took to Caius as a father. His power to adapt and instantly master any vampire power he encountered made him absolutely invaluable. Only once had he ever questioned we three…when Alicia Black was born. He had fallen in love with her, seeing her as a being as unique and wonderful as himself. He begged us to spare her life and the lives of her family, and of course, foolish Caius caved in. Aro and I decided it was ok…our friend Carlisle was a good and compassionate man…if not a miserable vampire, and we decided to go along with Caius and allow Alicia to continue to exist. Jeremy spent months apologizing for his questioning of our rules this …but he still continued to leave Volterra on occasion and visit with the Cullens for short periods of time. More than once he would return home, proclaiming to have sworn off human blood forever, only to hunt humans again within a week. For two years, it was an annoying cycle, but never in that time had he ever contemplated leaving us for the Cullen family…and several times he returned, dejected about not being able to convince Alicia to leave her family and join us (though honestly, Alice would have been a much more desired acquisition).

I sighed and shook my head, returning to my work. Kai disturbed me no more and found a comfortable spot in the library, and began to concentrate on her power. Everything was peaceful…normal…until she let out a blood curdling scream. Kai shook all over, her hands cupped over her mouth. Her eyes were wide with horror, and if they could, they would have been full of tears. Several of the elite guard, appeared nearly instantly, and tended to the girl as she lay curled up in a fetal position. "Hurt! He's injured…hurt bad! Oh, Jeremy, he's been hurt so bad! Oh no…no!" she cried repeatedly.

I pursed my lips with fury over being interrupted again, stood, and marched over to where the crowd gathered. "One side…out of the way…" I ordered various members of the elite. I had seen too many vampires over exert themselves too many times using their powers to be surprised by her reaction now. I only wish I'd known then what I know now. I knelt down, tending to the girl, whispering soothing words into her ear, while dear sweet Didyme tried to use her abilities to make Kai feel better.

It was not long before my brothers arrived to investigate the disturbance. Kai, fought against the effects, and threw herself at the feet of Caius, looking up at him, while clutching his legs. "Oh Caius, forgive me, please forgive me! I tried to convince Jeremy not to keep going after Alicia, but he wouldn't listen…oh Caius…Jeremy is hurt!" She wailed.

As she continued to blubber and beg Caius for forgiveness, Aro snuck around her. He glanced at me, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "My dear Kai," he began in a very smooth and calming tone. "You must have been mistaken. Jeremy is the most powerful of all our kind; it would take a god to defeat him." He bent down and took her by the hand, using his own gift upon her…with but a touch he would gain every memory she'd ever had. Kai was a useful creature to us…showing us crimes committed by suspected criminals and allowing us to execute them quicker and more efficiently. I stood by Caius, who was yet still calm, watching and waiting. Caius shook his head and chuckled, leaning into me to mention how foolish this all was, when we saw Aro's cool exterior change to a look of absolute dread. It wasn't long before he was trembling as much as Kai…perhaps more so. Suddenly he began gasping in and out quickly and heavily as a human would do. I'd never seen him behave as such in thousands of years. He immediately stood and took command of the situation, the terror and anxiety never leaving his eyes. "DEMETRI! Gather the guard; ALL of them don't accept a single excuse of absence. We need every single member. Once they are collected, assemble every tracker and find all the nomads and other covens across the world. Even the blasted Romanians. Sulpicia, go to the artifacts room, get every single…" but I had heard enough. I grabbed Aro by his robe, careful not to touch his skin, and whirled him around to face me.

"Aro! Have you lost your mind? Do you know what this gathering you want will cost us in favors? Why are you…?"

"You don't understand, Marcus, my brother." He responded. "I saw what has happened through Kai's memories. Jeremy lives, but he truly has been seriously damaged…perhaps beyond repair. The Cullens have some sort of new…weapon…a super weapon! It was nearly impossible to tell, this…creature seemed to forever dart just out of Kai's past-sight, almost like he was invisible to it. Whoever, whatever it is, it is like…like…a raging storm wrapped in steel."

Caius stared in disbelief, and then actually had the gall to laugh at Aro's warning. "You've gone mad! Even if the Cullens did manage to…create another freak…or some…super weapon…he was not alone! They would have to deal with Logan…Felix…Cassidy…" He argued.

"Logan and Cassidy are dead." Aro replied coldly, cutting off our brother. "Felix lives, but he was badly beaten down. He was lucky that this beast's rage was not directed at him. Jeremy was the primary target."

Caius became quiet…fear, rage, and hate gleamed into his eyes. The last time I'd ever seen him like this was when he was humiliated by a werewolf and had vowed to hunt them all to extinction. "One more question then, my brother…" He hissed. "Why the nomads? Why the other covens? The Volturi have no need of them…there won't be a trial this time…only an execution. This monstrosity and the Cullens might have been able to defeat Felix and my son and kill two other lesser vampires, but they will be no match for the full combined might of our coven…they no longer have the allies they once did."

Aro frowned and breathed deeply. "My brother, you don't understand. This storm-beast killed two vampires…fought and defeated both Jeremy, Felix…and five others…and he did so _**alone.**_"

Caius's jaw dropped, and his eyes narrowed with loathing and hate. I could tell immediately that he was swearing vengeance on this Cullen super-weapon. The guard and our wives still stood before us, looks of fear, anxiety, excitement, and hate etched on their various faces. I looked at each and every one of them and nodded. "Do as Aro commands. We will destroy the Cullens in one month's time."

**End Interlude**

**Chapter 10: ****Asgard, Avalon, and Olympus**

_And here we are_

_We're the princes of the universe_

_Here we belong_

_Fighting for survival_

_We've come to be the rulers of your world_

_I am immortal_

_I have inside me blood of kings_

_I have no rival_

_No man can be my equal_

_Take me to the future of your world.  
_

Princes of the Universe

Queen; 1986

I don't know how long I floated in that inky darkness. Some might think immortality is a dream come true…especially true immortality like mine. I tell you now, while it has its advantages, at the time, it was an absolute hell. Never knowing when it was day, never knowing when it was night. Not being able to move a single muscle. Feeling your lungs fill with water, opening your mouth to scream, only to drown and never die. Fish, sharks, and other assorted slimy things swimming past you, trying to take nibbles out of you, or feeding on the blood you've left behind which oozed from your injuries. Not knowing if you've fallen asleep, and the images you see are merely dreams, nightmares, or waking hallucinations. Nightmares, which were full of angry, hateful people I'd met in my life…people who, even if they did not in real life, resented me in these dreams. The entire world was against me…and I had no one to blame but myself. Of all those angry faces I saw, the three that scared me the most…that hurt me the most were the images of my mom, my dad, and Alicia.

When I would awake, of course, I would see only the black abyss…and hear only the bubbling and gurgling of the ocean all around me. The cold was the worst. I became so numb that even the pain of my wounds vanished. I wanted to move…to swim, but I could never be sure if my arms and legs were obeying or not…I couldn't feel them at all.

I was continually tossed about by waves, caught in miniature whirlpools, or battered about by the ocean's inhabitants. My body, full of water, sank deeper, until I finally came to rest against something uneven and horribly uncomfortable to lie upon. Then, all of the sudden I was squeezed almost in half, and lifted from the water, surrounded by hundreds of fish. The uncomfortable "ground" I'd been laying on turned out to be fishing net! I winced painfully as the dark ocean depths became the glaring light of a morning sun. Unceremoniously I was dumped onto hard wood, and immediately began to cough and hack up literally a gallon of water. An Asian youth stared down at me in disbelief, his eyes wide with shock. He turned and ran across the boat, shouting. "Grandfather, Grandfather, come quick! There was a man trapped in our net…and he is still alive!" I groaned painfully, and finally dared to try to move my arms. Slowly but surely, my gigantic muscled form rose from the floor of the boat…yeah, I figured out I was on a fishing boat…and I managed to stand. An old Asian man appeared, accompanied by the panicking youth, but he stopped and stared wide eyed at me. I turned to see him still standing in the doorway of the tiny steering area…and I realized what he was looking at.

My reflection was cast in the glass windows of the boat's cabin, and I realized how intimidating I appeared. Staring back at me was that young silver haired titan, but instead of piercing magical blue, his eyes were a ghastly white. I was dazed and felt weak from blood loss and stiffness, despite how horrible I felt, I couldn't help but chuckle…through this whole ordeal, the young muscle man remained as handsome and impressive looking as ever, though perhaps a little more haggard than last time. I blinked over and over again…until the more familiar blue color of my eyes returned. "Demon…" The old man whispered. He looked at his grandson, a gangly teenager. "Go…take him, if he will come, and make him comfortable. We must take him to the lady's place. She will know what to do with him."

The teen gulped. "The lady? But…but grandfather!"

"Do as I say, now!" The older man shouted. The youth obeyed and scurried towards me with a nice warm towel. He draped it over my shoulders and led me to a place where I could sit down.

"Come on. You can sit and rest here…" he said in a soothing voice.

I smiled and nodded. "Thank you so much." I slurred, startling him. "I guess it's pretty lucky for me that you and your grandpa know English, huh?"

The boy frowned. "What are you talking about? It's lucky for us that you can speak fluent Okinawan." He replied. OKINAWA??? Had I actually floated that far, or was that how far damn Hector had thrown me? For some reason, I suspected the latter. Another stupid ass titan power: understand and speak any language. Finding out all this stuff I could do was really awesome at first, but now it was getting annoying.

While the grandpa and grandson were busy, I took a long look at myself. I was nearly naked…wearing nothing but what was left of my underwear and shredded blue jeans. That's when I saw it…my wrist. During the fight with Hector, one of his fists has slammed into my arm with merciless force, causing a loud crunching noise. At the time, I thought he'd broken it…but now I saw what had truly happened. Alicia's promise bracelet…it was in ruins. Nearly all of the gorgeous rocks she'd used were either broken or had fallen off. All that remained of the little wolf carving was the sadly gazing head, and the storm cloud it gazed at was now cracked down the middle and threatened to break off at any moment. Upon seeing this, I at last gave in to despair and the last memories I had with the Cullen family flooded into my mind…and all I had now was fear and resentment. I openly broke down into tears, covering my face, and crying in a loud husky wail.

The grandfather wasted no time in putting the fishing boat into full gear and speeding off towards an ominous looking tiny island. It was practically all jungle; here and there a crocodile could be seen darting out of sight. The old man slowed and stopped the boat, leaving us floating not far off the coast. "Watch the ship, I'll take him to shore." He told the teen, and then escorted me to the one lone rowboat on board.

The young man let out a terrified squeak, then shook his head and tried to desperately stop his grandpa. "Grandfather, you mustn't! What about the legends? It is forbidden for any of our people to go there!! She will come…and she will get you, and there will be nothing you can do about it!"

"If you think I'm going to set a single foot on that island, you are crazy, boy!" The elder replied. "I'm going to get him as close as I can to land, then I'm getting out of there!!" He slowly started off towards me, shaking with fear, but somehow he summoned enough courage, and addressed me. "Ok, demon, get into the rowboat please." He ordered, though his eyes were shocked at my current mental state. I raised my arms defensively and nodded, obeying him.

In moments we were floating along, heading towards the island. The old man was silent, and rowed the little boat as hard and as fast as possible. He would not bear my unpleasant company for too long. Once near shore the man scowled and pointed towards the beach. "Get out." He said at last. I looked off into the distance at the island. The beach was somewhat pleasant, but the thick jungle behind it was dark, green, and foreboding. I hopped out of the boat, and into the mossy water, and then headed for the land. The old man started rowing again…but something was wrong. He began to panic, as his boat had snagged on something and would not move. He stared at me; eyes wide with terror then looked back at the beach and tried all the harder to row. I sighed, lift a single foot, and gave his boat a gentle tap, which nearly threw him off his seat, but freed the boat and started off back towards the fishing vessel. The old man gave me one last look, this time he appeared sad and apologetic. I had to reaction for him what-so-ever and turned away.

The hot stickiness of the humid jungle was sharp contrast with the merciless cold of the ocean depths. I had no clue why the old man had demanded that I come here, nor did I have any clue where I was walking to or why. I merely continued to stroke the shattered promise bracelet and walk aimlessly on. The talk of some "lady" obviously a demon or something held no fear for me. I had confronted and been severely beaten by the most horrible thing imaginable…and survived. Nothing on Earth could frighten me any longer…or at least so I thought.

By some miracle I arrived in the middle of the jungle…where there was a small clearing, as well as a tiny simple run down shack. In contrast, all around the little home were gardens of exotic flowers…most of which I'd never seen before. The entire area had a sense of serenity about it. I saw movement from within the cabin and prepared myself. Obviously this place was some sort of trap to lure in humans…whatever this demon was; she wouldn't find me such a gullible victim.

At the entrance way appeared a small Oriental woman. She was very slender; her body built like a gymnast or maybe a ballerina. Her hair was very long, going all the way down to her ankles…and was a striking bright orange-red color, contrast to the silky black hues that were so often found in people native to Asia. Her beauty was unmatchable, with skin the color of ivory and appearing very soft and gentle to the touch. She wore a simple black robe that conformed just right to her body revealing a little of her shapely form, but not too much.

She leaned against the door way, staring at me with dark, almost black eyes. I had no idea what to do or say to her…she certainly did not appear to be threatening and she was unarmed as far as I could tell. She sighed with obvious annoyance and shook her head. "Are you just going to stand there all day, Owen Orious, or are you going to introduce yourself?" She growled.

My eyes went wide as a gasp escaped my lips. "Er…uh…sorry about that…as…as you already know I'm…er…Owen Orious, and I…uh…could use some help…I guess." I said nervously.

The woman shook her head again, and cupped her face in her hand. Finally she looked at me once more, and gestured for me to come inside. "We have much to discuss." She said, and followed me inside the shack.

The shack was just as tiny on the inside as it was on the outside. It was only a one room dwelling, with a small table and chair in the corner. Strangely, a bar hung from wall to wall…like one a person would use to do chin-ups on. The only apparent decorations in the drab little place were a flamberg-style sword (the ones that have blades which look like fire) leaning against the table, and a long whip curled up into a circle and slung over the chair. One small set of cabinets were found on the opposite end of where the bar hung. There were no apparent signs of electricity or even a bathroom anywhere. The woman brushed passed me, and opened the cabinets. She pulled out a loaf of bread and a bag full of a very strange kind of golden colored herb. Opening another drawer, she found a knife and cut two pieces off the loaf then stuffed them with the herb…making a sandwich. She placed the sandwich on a little plate, and pulled out two saucers and tea cups, as well as a tea pitcher. She turned to me, and gestured with her head to go and sit at the table. I did so…and to my surprise a mound of rock rose from the floor and formed into a semi-comfortable looking second seat!

I glanced at her, then sat down, surprised that the new seat was solid and actually comfortable. She stared at me, obviously surprised that I would take the stone seat instead of the normal one, but went back to her work. She placed the plate and sandwich in front of me, then fetched the tea pitcher and cups and brought them over as well. Without ever having filled anything, heated anything, or…well…done anything…the woman poured steaming hot tea from the pitcher into my cup. She then sat comfortably across from me and watched me. "Eat." She said after a second or two. "And ask your questions. I know you have lots of things on your mind. I will do my best to answer."

I stared down at the little lunch in front of me, trying to remember when the last time I even ate…I thought it was when Alicia made me that cheeseburger. I made no attempt to eat any of the food before me. I didn't quite trust this lady. After a while I looked back at her then shrugged. "Ok, let's start with the obvious then…who the hell are you?"

The beauty gazed at me, her eyes almost sparkling, drawing me in and hypnotizing me. She sung very slowly…very softly.

"_He would easily beat the minions of Ouranos!_

_Lady Mona the fallen, defeated fled from Greece_

_Her children of living stone became Cronus's slaves._

_Soon after that, he met Lady Mona again_

_And he crushed her again at the battle of Avalon."_

My eyes narrowed instinctively…I had almost forgotten the song of Cronus, which Puck had sung to me on the dreamscape. It was only a week or so ago…but it felt to me like a lifetime. I recognized these lyrics, and flashed back to the visions that had accompanied them. This woman before me…feeding me frigging lunch WAS Lady Mona, the fallen. This girl had not only met Cronus before, but fought with him as well.

"Lady Mona…" I said in a whisper.

"Just refer to me as Mona now." She corrected.

"Ok…I know who you are…you're from that song…but maybe I should have been more detailed…WHAT are you?" I asked.

She wasted no time in answering my question; and she was blunt and to the point. "I am one of the fallen angels, kicked out of heaven for crimes against the Grand Architect's creations."

That was the second time I'd heard reference to some grand architect. "Grand Architect…you do mean God, don't you?" I asked. The fact that I was talking to a demon or devil hadn't sunk in yet.

"So…w…what's he like?" I asked stupidly, trying to make small talk.

"The Architect is a cosmic being. This universe…this reality…is but a small speck in his divine scheme of things. Despite that, the Architect cares for all that the Architect has created. The Architect has great plans for everything…but let us speak of this no more. We are much the same, you and I…we are both immortal beings born of the divine. The Architect, however, as I said, is a cosmic entity and the Architect's concerns are not our own. Let us discuss more immediate and pressing concerns at the moment."

I took note that she always referred to God as "The Grand Architect" and never gave God a determinate sex or race. However, I knew I probably shouldn't have been discussing religion, and agreed to drop the subject. "Anyway…um…tell me more about yourself then. What are you doing here and why are you helping me?" Mona looked away from me for some time, and off into the distant jungle outside her home. Finally she turned back at me, sighed, and began her tale.

"As I have said, I am a fallen angel, but…in a way…I am a fallen demon as well. After our fall to Earth from Heaven, I was the only one who managed to escape from Hell…or as the titans call it…Hades. I wandered, lost and alone for millennia. I knew I could never return to my home, but I also realized that my fellow fallen brothers and sisters were wrong in what they had done, and I could no longer bear to be part of their company. As a way of curing my loneliness I took some of the strange hairless apes I found, and gave them powers and abilities far beyond their kin, but I wanted them bound with me forever, so I also gave them immortality. I was…still foolish in those days…and granted them other quirks as well…to be at their strongest they would have to feed on their mortal families. They were devastatingly weak to fire, which I commanded with great ease, so I could keep them in line."

"The number of my beloved ones grew day by day. I loved my new 'children' deeply and adored every quirk I gave to them. It wasn't long before I gave them the ability to pass on their gifts to others, and I soon found myself surrounded by an army of devoted worshippers and followers. Nearly all of them had taken…mates for themselves and they all loved each other deeply…and I loved all of them just as much. It was then the sick plan formed in my head to conquer humanity so to make them like cattle for my beautiful, wonderful children."

Her head snapped suddenly to the window and all was quiet. My eyes narrowed, and I had a very funny, very scary feeling about just who her children were…or would become. I inhaled, ready to ask her something, when she started speaking again, this time her voice sounded far off like she was reliving everything.

"Little did we know someone else was already on the verge of conquering the world. The song is incorrect…somehow; I think Cronus already knew that a child born of Rhea and him would rise up and betray him. Even before he killed and overthrew his own father…Cronus already had a child with a human…a child named Orious. He was ridding the world of his father, not only because Gaia asked him to do so, but because of his love for this weak tiny baby. He was building his own forces to attack Ouranos, and he'd already conquered and enslaved the city of souls when our forces met on the field of battle. The city of souls…our presence on the Earth caused mass chaos, and countless strange and wonderful creatures rose up…humans without bodies who could possess animals, lesser giants and Cyclopes, elves, orcs, goblins, and dwarves…such damage we were causing…and each of these were now blindly following Cronus or Ouranos in their personal war."

"Cronus and his siblings amazed me. None were born of heaven, yet each and every one of them was as strong, fast and powerful as I. Their mother had given them weapons…equal to my own heavenly forged sword, whip, and pitchfork, made of blessed holy adamant metal. I guessed rightly that the Architect had a hand in this as well."

"At first, my greatest enemy was Prometheus, because we each wielded the power of fire and were the perfect counter for each other. But there was a subtle shift, and I found myself locked in combat with Rhea more and more often. Only at the end of our war did I finally understand. I was a match for any of the titans, but they were 12 and I was alone; I could not possibly fight them all at once and expect to win. Worse yet, even the weakest and least of them was too much for my children to handle. A hundred children ambushed on of the titans, and a hundred children soon lay beaten at her fee…but not dead. Of course as soon as they discovered the weaknesses of my children, it wasn't long before lives were lost. It is why Prometheus broke away from fighting me…he was burning and destroying my beloved ones! My heart shattered and I immediately offered to surrender if they would spare the pretty dears. There was no hope…Prometheus and Rhea had suffered many injuries while fighting me, the spirit warriors had grown to hate my children with everything they had thanks to this war, and I was a fallen one…too dangerous and conniving to be allowed to live. Yet, Cronus spared me, on the condition that I be his consort…something that certainly did not please Rhea. Thus it was that I came to be with Cronus and his forces. My children were spared, but many of those were enslaved and fought as warriors in Cronus's ever swelling army. I was deeply hurt when so many of them switched allegiance from me and began to worship him instead. The rivalry between themselves and the spirit warriors only rose to new levels as they competed with each other and the other races for the titans' favor."

Mona refilled my tea cup as I listened to her lengthy tale, mesmerized. I startled when I saw her go quiet and pour more tea into my cup…completely unaware that I'd drunken it all. She stared back out the window again then smiled gently and continued. "I bore Cronus two children; a boy whom I named Oberon and girl, named Titania. Of course, because of who and what I was in those days, I'd planned on raising them to help me overthrow Cronus, but I had no idea that he was planning on using them as bodyguards for his half human son. He…he didn't even care that they were HIS children too…he only wanted more slaves for the…the half breed!" Tears began to run down her cheeks as she remembered this…not tears of water, but of liquid fire! They fell to the table and burned a hole straight through it! She looked at me suddenly and regained her composure, then continued.

"I tried to escape with them in my arms. I fled Greece and hid in Avalon, but my own children betrayed me and easily tracked me down for Cronus! Oberon and Titania had grown quickly and were now like 11 year old human children…but they were confused and scared, watching their father approach their mother with such a fierce look in his eyes! It was the first and last time I'd ever fight Cronus. Rhea and Prometheus were formidable foes, but Cronus was the king and the greatest of all the titans; I never knew what was coming. He destroyed me in combat and shattered every bone in my body. Not even my mind or soul was safe from his onslaught…and before I fell to him, he snapped my beloved trident with his vicious sickle. It was the second time I'd ever lost a battle in my life…and the only time I was ever left broken in a puddle of my own blood. I didn't know it then, but the entire 'king' concept was based on the fact that he'd slain Ouranos and absorbed his power into himself. Sometimes in the night, I can still feel the painful tortures he put me through after my defeat." Mona held her sides and leaned back, staring out the window once again.

She stared back at me after a while and gestured to the food. "Please, eat while you listen. What you have is not actually mortal food…it is what the gods call Ambrosia. As you may have figured out, our kind have no need to eat, drink, or even sleep…but we may do so and enjoy it as much as any human if we wish. However, this particular substance…this Ambrosia…there is something about it that helps with the learning process…that makes the flow of magic and spells come easier."

My eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped open. "Magic and spells? What are you talking about?"

Mona sighed and shook her head. "Just as…vampires…sometimes have a gift unique to that person so do ALL greater immortals, gods, or the divine as we sometimes call ourselves…have the ability to alter the very world around us. It is why humans have never discovered us." She smiled bitterly to herself then chuckled darkly. "How do you prove the existence of a being or beings that can change the rules?"

I began puzzling out her words, when she tapped me on the hand to regain my attention. "It was only for a few months that I endured Cronus's tortures…and it was from an unexpected ally that I should win my freedom. Cronus's insanity had reached its peak, and he began devouring the children that he had with Rhea in an effort to protect himself from his fate. Desperate for allies against Cronus and his massive army, Rhea herself freed me with the help of Gaia and together we protected and hid away her youngest child, Zeus. Eventually, as you know from legend, Zeus rose up and overthrew his father, saving his devoured siblings, and with their help, banished Cronus to one of the darkest layers of Hell."

"The gods then turned upon your ancestor…always the jealous and hateful creatures they were. However, their wars had taken far too long…and they found the first Orious had died a mortal's death long ago. The fifth descendent of that man was living happily as a mere farmer. The gods sought still, to strike him down in punishment for all the pain and suffering their father but Gaia intervened…making her vision of the future known to all, and forbidding any revenge against the Orious family."

"Cronus's army was forced to pledge themselves to the new overlords and it was decided that we would hide ourselves from the rest of the world. Most of the spirit warriors chose to remain behind for they were the closest to humanity…and of course many of my children remained behind as well, for they blended in very easily…and I think they wanted to continue their feud with the warriors."

"The rest of us however, went to our own continent…where Avalon, Olympus, Asgard, Honah Lee, Atlantis, and many other countries were located. We used our magic to hide this place from the rest of the world and have dwelled there ever since. I left that place centuries ago, however, having grown bored with the same happenings day in and day out. It's a very peaceful place, but because of who and what I am, I always felt as though I were making the others uncomfortable. I came to this island, scaring away the occasional human that wanders here, and waiting for the day when you would come."

She stared at me silently then, a look of peace crossing her face. I hesitated but picked up the strange sandwich, and took a bite out of it. It was the nastiest and most bitter tasting thing I'd ever eaten in my life! "Augh! The gods eat this crap?" I complained, grabbing the tea cup and downing it quickly. The tea was warm and wonderful, like liquid gold. I sighed and actually took a moment to enjoy it gliding down my throat.

"Yes, Ambrosia in solid form is not the best tasting stuff. We prefer it in liquid form too." Mona said, managing a tiny smirk, and chancing another glance out the window. I grimaced at her, realizing it wasn't really tea I was drinking, but finished my meal all the same…a strange feeling of power filled me. As I raised my cup to swallow the remainder of my drink, I saw the ruined leftovers of my promise bracelet, and sighed sadly, rubbing the wolf head and trying my hardest not to shed tears.

"S…so tell me something then…if you're…er…if you used to be evil incarnate and you hate my dickhead ancestor Cronus so much, why were you waiting for me? Why do you seem to be helping me? Shouldn't you want revenge on him for taking away your children?" I asked.

Mona shrugged. "After his banishment, I had 'regained' my lost ones, Oberon and Titania. They live now, as rulers of Avalon, King and Queen of the Faeries. As for being reformed, I can tell you, Owen Orious, some like me can only be good…or evil…for so long before it becomes absolutely boring. All I want now is to go home…to my TRUE home I mean. And after much meditating, I have come to the conclusion that helping you grow into this 'great and good' king you are supposed to become will be my first step in the right direction."

I managed a sad smile, but continued to look down and play with my shattered bracelet. "What…what do you think you'd tell your family if they decide to…uh…let you come home?"

"Simple, I would approach Michael and Gabriel and I would tell them: _brothers, I have sinned against the father and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your sister._ I would then hope that I could serve them as some sort of slave or other menial worker…for once one has fallen, one may NEVER come back." She stated.

"Now it is your turn. Tell me about yourself. Right now you have…innate defenses up…defenses that all titans have to protect themselves. I could shove past them and read your mind, but I choose not to. I want to know everything; how you came to be, and why."

I began to pretty much tell her my life story. I could hardly believe I was doing so even as the syllables were spilling from my mouth. Compared to hers, mine was a boring story with the only real aspects of excitement beginning with meeting the Cullens, fighting Jeremy, and Hector. Mona's eyes widened as I described the Cullen family one by one, and she gasped after hearing about Alicia and her origins.

When I was finished, she gazed at me, her eyes full of questions. "So…the copper haired girl…this Renesmee? You say she actually got through to you? Up until that point, none of their powers were working on you?"

"Yes ma'am, that's right."

Mona smiled, and it was warm and full of wonder and curiosity. "It takes one such as I, or another of similar and equal power to break down even the weakest of a titan's defenses. This little one's power must be very potent indeed! Or…perhaps she was trying as hard as she could, and your defenses as unbridled as they are, were simply too inefficient to stop her." She looked away and pondered this, again her gaze wandered to the outside.

"So…what now…will you take me back to them?" I asked hopefully.

"Now? No, now we must go to Olympus and Asgard where your _other_ relatives still live. We will do our best to train and teach you, for we can not stand idly by and allow a young, uncontrolled titan to remain among humans…not until you are ready. Come, let us take our leave…someone is here, looking for you. Take my hand." Mona held out her small slender hand.

Instead I rushed to the door, desperately trying to see who might be there. "Hector? Royce?" I asked with a shaken voice. Mona sighed behind me just as a shadowy figure appeared from the jungle and came rushing towards the hut with lightning speed.

"No…"

"…ROSALIE??" I gasped, finishing Mona's sentence, as the most beautiful of all the Cullens stood before me. Her eyes were wide and unsure. She inhaled deeply, and then blinked over and over, as though trying to figure out a calculus problem. Her eyes darted from me to Mona again and again.

"O…Owen? Owen Orious? Is…is that really you?" She asked, her voice breaking with fear. I nodded my head, and stared into her eyes, a thousand questions burning in my thoughts.

"How in the hell did you find me, Rose??" I asked.

"Emmett begged me to look for you…Owen…Alicia's gone, she ran away…I wouldn't give up until I found you and force you to come back!" She replied in a very meek voice.

"Enough of this! Be gone stupid girl, we have no time for you!" Mona snarled. She'd already gathered up her sword and whip, her hand lashed out and grabbed me tightly by the wrist.

"NO!" I yelled, and threw my arm around Rosalie, just as a circle of flame engulfed us. I screamed in horror, thinking the fire was going to burn my friend alive, just as it had done to Logan and Cassidy. Mere seconds later, I dared to open my eyes, relieved as I still held the trembling Rosalie. But we were no longer on the small jungle island. We were standing in the middle of some great city square, surrounded by majestic architecture. I was immediately reminded of downtown New York, but instead of American style, the buildings resembled ancient Greek, Roman, Middle Eastern, Gothic, and even a bit of Oriental structure and order. If everything around us wasn't made of gold or marble, it was made of silver, bronze, or even gemstones. There were pyramids, skyscrapers, pagodas, temples, and everything in between.

Rosalie and I were dumbstruck for several moments as we took in everything around us. Eventually, however, Rosalie's gaze dropped to my big arm still wrapped around her, and I dropped it immediately. Before I could apologize something fast and hard slapped me right in the face.

"IDIOT and fool of a titan, she does not belong here!" Mona was yelling. "Now I have no choice…" The demon raised her arm and pointed her palm at Rosalie. Suddenly her eyes were ablaze with yellow and orange fire, while her hand became a virtual torch, ready to blast the beautiful vampire into oblivious. I recovered from the painful sting on my cheek and leapt towards her arm. However, much like Hector, Mona was hardened by thousands and thousands of years of battle experience. Instead of me grabbing her, she clutched me by the wrist and twirled me around, yanking my arm painfully against my back. Kicking her bare foot into the small of my back, I found myself tumbling face first into the dirt road. Mona was cursing in every language. "Damn you, Orious! I wasn't going to kill her, I was merely going to send her back home. Now it's too late, and I can't guarantee her safety." I winced painfully but quickly struggled to stand up, instead I found myself staring at a familiar pair of black and brown boots. I looked up, and saw Puck staring right back down at me.

He laughed joyfully, then bent down to help me back to my feet. "We really have to stop meeting like this!" I heard several hisses behind me, and whirled around to see what the hell was going on. Rosalie and Mona were surrounded by at least 40 pale skinned human looking creatures with purple circles under their ugly murky green eyes. All of them were dressed in ancient battle armor, though not all from the same culture. One vampire was a French musketeer, another couple appeared like Vikings, and yet others were knights, islander warriors, and samurai. Gender was certainly no issue with these creatures, for females were just as numerous as males. All of them had strange looking weapons made of burnt bronze trained on my friends. Mona had her sword drawn as well, but it was sheathed in fire, and her eyes still burned like two miniature chimneys as she held them back. Puck smirked and shook his head. "Shall we intervene?" he asked. I nodded, and Puck began walking forward, hands raised. "Ok, alright, that's enough folks! As much as I would love to see a big fight break out, I'm afraid tonight is the night of the great gathering! Besides, we don't want to leave a bad impression on our special guest!"

The creatures withdrew immediately and now I found myself surrounded, however no weapons were held against me. One vampire, dressed in Teutonic knightly armor, stepped forward gesturing to Mona and Rosalie. "Great Zeus, what is the meaning of this? Outsiders have not been allowed here for 300 years…and why is SHE here?" He asked me with a heavy German accent with just a tiny hint of Russian heritage. He pointed specifically to Mona when asking about "she."

Puck floated in the air beside him, kicking his little legs and laughing hysterically. "That's not Zoo-ooos!" he sang.

The vampire frowned and cocked an eyebrow at the little trickster before turning his green eyes back on me. "Tonenili?" He asked. My mouth dropped open to answer, but I was only able to make a few nonsensical yammerings. The knight frowned and guessed again. "Raijin? Baiame? Perun?"

"All wrong!" Puck laughed once more. "It's Owen! Owen Orious!" There was a collective gasp in the air, and the faerie-boy seemed to take extreme delight in the startled expressions of the vampires. However, at the sound of "Owen Orious" everything around the continent changed. The Earth shook beneath our feet, and gusts of wind threatened to blow away all of those gathered. What sounded like thunder drummed in my ears, and then I realized…it wasn't some oncoming natural disaster, it was as Puck had said…a great gathering! The earthquakes were the oncoming footsteps of hundreds upon hundreds of giant sized beings. The wind gusts were not some tornado, but the great flapping of wings from countless legendary monsters I once thought only existed in the pages of my Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manuel.

Every creature of myth imaginable was assembled, staring at me as they came from the hills, valleys, forests, and mountains. The 200 foot tall cyclops appeared from behind the mountains, followed by their 300 foot brothers and sisters, the giants. Hectonchires…ones not unlike my enemy Hector, emerged only a few moments later…and after them…the ones that brought all to their knees…the ones who's very presence DEMANDED respect…the titans, the gods, the divine, appeared. Each of them were 400 feet tall, and represented every race and sex of humanity. All were impressive looking to behold, powerful, and undeniable. Some looked exactly like beautiful humans, others looked like frightening demons, and still others had features like animals. I was mostly familiar with Norse and Greek gods, and was quickly able to identify many of them as I looked at the crowd. All their eyes rested on me, and they whispered, pointed, and laughed to each other at the poor stupid insect before them…still so clueless about his place in this insane world.

Finally one of the gods stepped forward. A crown of gold rested atop the long main of silver colored hair. He carried his lightning bolt shaped spear with supreme confidence. His eyes occasionally flashed with lightning much like my own. He bent down on one knee, and crossed his chest in salute, nodding in my direction. A smile creased his flawless lips. "I am Zeus, king of the gods. Owen Orious, my elder brother born this later years…welcome home."


End file.
